1) This is a government hotel that the city of Phoenix spent millions on giving our hard earned tax dollars to the millionaires that own the Sheraton Hotel chain. 2) I think it is the largest hotel in Arizona. If not the largest, it is one of the largest hotels in Arizona. Again built with our tax dollars as a government welfare program for the millionaire owners of the Sheraton Hotel chain. 3) I wonder how many of the smaller hotels in Phoenix went out of business because of the government welfare the city of Phoenix gave to the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel??? azcentral/story/news/local/phoenix/2014/10/25/fire-prompsts-evacuation-at-downtown-sheraton-hotel/17905351/ Phoenix Sheraton hotel closed after fire, smoke incident Justin Price, Weldon Johnson and D.S. Woodfill, 12 News | azcentral 2:51 a.m. MST October 26, 2014 The Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel will remain closed throughout the weekend as officials investigate the source of an electrical fire that filled parts of the building and nearby city streets with thick, acrid smoke. Officials from the Sheraton and the City of Phoenix, which owns the hotel, continued to scramble Saturday night to find lodgings for the approximately 800 guests who were evacuated. Phoenix Fire Department Capt. Troy Caskey said investigators suspect the fire late Saturday morning was put out by the hotels sprinkler system. Engineers were surveying damage to the building. All nearby streets that were closed by emergency officials during the incident were reopened by 8 p.m. Shanna Wolfe, a spokeswoman for the Sheraton, said guests needing help finding accommodations should call 602-262-2500. I dont know how long the closure will be beyond Sunday, Wolfe said. Some of the guests were being relocated to the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel about five blocks away at Adams Street and Central Avenue, according to hotel and fire department officials. The Sheraton said in a statement that it is coordinating the relocation of all current and incoming guests with other properties throughout the Phoenix area. Wolfe said guests were escorted to their rooms to gather their personal effects. John Weaver, in town from Australia for a project management conference, took the evacuation in stride. You cant stay at a hotel with no power, mate, Weaver said as he gathered his bags to leave the hotel. After the fire, only emergency lights could be seen at the hotel late into the evening, but room lights could be seen by 10:30 p.m. Some guests were upset that the hotel did not provide transportation to the Renaissance Hotel. Andy Miller, from Wisconsin, didnt complain as he and his wife walked the roughly half-mile distance in the afternoon heat. He said he just hoped they would get a better location for their last night in town. Were heading out tomorrow at 6 a.m., Miller said. I hope wherever we end up, its closer to the airport. About 100 firefighters and at least 10 engines responded as smoke poured from one of the utility rooms. Firefighters wearing protective breathing masks went in and out as hundreds of onlookers lined the sidewalks outside. Hotel guests filed out the doors as fire alarms blared and police and fire crews blocked off the streets and sidewalks around the building. The hotel, which was booked at about 80 percent capacity, was safely evacuated and no injuries were reported, Caskey said. No flames were visible from the street, and the most of the building appeared undamaged. Scott Coniam was visiting the hotel on the second floor for a software training session and said he heard two loud booms, both of which shook the building. It definitely shook us, he said. Guests outside the building asked a firefighter who had emerged from inside for an update. He announced to the group that crews had been chasing the smoke throughout the affected area inside the building trying to find the source. He said it was under control. Caskey later said crews werent using water to extinguish the smoke because its source, whatever it was, was suspected to have an electrical origin. Most of the smoke had ceased by about noon, and by 1 p.m. authorities were escorting groups of guests who had flights scheduled for Saturday to collect their belongings. Others were escorted into the parking garage to get their vehicles. One of those groups was Angie Miranda, Rafe Sweet and Chris Johnson -- friends who had met up at the hotel Friday morning to spend the day seeing music shows in the area. Sweet and Miranda were musicians themselves, and had brought their guitars for their stay. Miranda described the moment of the reported explosions, saying she heard a booming sound before she went to check outside their room on the 17th floor to investigate. I look out the door and just heard wind, Miranda said. Then a voice spoke through an intercom system instructing guests to evacuate. The group made sure to grab their most valuable possessions -- their two guitars, one of which was a Fender Telecaster. Grab the Tele! Sweet said, quoting Mirandas response to the evacuation notice. They carried their guitars and a few bags down 17 stories to go outside and wait. A spokesman for the hotel and authorities said guests were instructed to wait out the evacuation at the Phoenix Convention Center. The hoptel opened on Sept. 30, 2008, as the largest hotel in Arizona with 1,000 guestrooms.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 17:16:16 +0000
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