Minimal Fire Damage to Windsor's Embassy Suites

There is No Reason to Believe it Was Arson

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. October 14, 2008

LOMPOC, CA, January 10, 2006. General Manager Toby Simmons is remarkably calm considering the arson buzz about the fire at the Embassy Suites Lompoc. "Everyone has blown this completely out of proportion," he says matter-of-factly. This Windsor Hospitality Group property's renovations are in progress, but the hotel is still in tact and fully operational.

Late Sunday night the renovation team was at the property, unloading a number of new chairs from their boxes, Simmons says. They left the boxes and packing material outside as they moved the chairs into the hotel.

"One of the guys unpacking may have been smoking or someone driving past the hotel may have thrown their cigarette out the window and it landed in the box pile." However it happened, the boxes ignited and would have burned to ash.

"The trouble only started when the fire blew-up a tire on the forklift that was parked next to the box pile," says Simmons. "When the tire exploded, it shattered the window to Room 128, a room in the back of the hotel. The minute the flame jumped into the room, our sprinklers instantly activated and extinguished the fire."

The hotel evacuated 12 guests to protect them, but the fire department sent them back to their rooms within an hour. Simmons and the renovation team supervisor worked into the morning to absorb all of the sprinkler water in order to ensure it would not damage adjacent suites.

The property is still very safe. By Simmons's account, their loss is confined to a couple of old chairs and furnishings. After thoroughly inspecting the grounds, the Lompoc Fire Department could not find any gas, propellant or evidence of arson. It is their policy to list the fire as suspicious because they could not pinpoint any cause, but the hotel team has not received any arson threats nor have they any reason to believe the fire was intentional.