HFD

At 5:29 PM on Wednesday, June 29, the City of Hays Fire Department, assisted by the Hays Police Department was dispatched to an automatic fire alarm at the Best Western Butterfield Inn, 1010 East 41st Street. On arrival, firefighters found that a fire sprinkler pipe in the attic of the hotel had failed causing a large volume of water flow into the hotel.

Firefighters immediately began work to stop the loss to the property and control the hazards caused by the uncontrolled flow of water. The fire sprinkler system was shut down and efforts were made to reduce the weight of the water on the upper floor to prevent collapse. Guests were evacuated and electrical power was shut down to reduce the danger. A room by room search was conducted to make sure all persons were safe and no one needed assistance. The damage extended through large areas of the building.

All available off-duty firefighters were called back to staff additional fire trucks to assist at the scene and maintain protection throughout the city. Assistance was also requested from the Ellis County Fire Department to help with this work. During this emergency, firefighters responded to one other coincident emergency call.

The City of Hays Police Department maintained traffic control and a safe perimeter. Police officers worked with the hotel staff to provide security for unprotected personal property until the owners could be located. An inspector from the City of Hays Planning, Inspection and Enforcement Division also responded to help assess the damage and coordinate necessary follow-up action to make sure the building was safe.

Fire crews left the scene at 7:35 PM.

The City of Hays Fire Department thanks the staff and guests of the Best Western Butterfield Inn for their calm cooperation.

The cause of the fire sprinkler pipe failure was not immediately apparent. Fire sprinkler systems have a record of high reliability and such failures are rare. Automatic fire sprinkler systems are necessary to protect life and property in large buildings where manual firefighting is not practical or large numbers of people gather. Individual fire sprinklers are activated by the high heat of a fire in the immediate area. Typically only one or two fire sprinklers activate to control a fire. When activated, fire sprinkler systems also sound an alarm to alert building occupants to the danger and call the fire department to respond without delay. With the exception of explosions and similar catastrophic events, there has never been a large loss of life fire in a building protected by an automatic fire sprinkler system.