Grant
Administrator
Sep. 13--NEW HAVEN -- Hundreds of people fled an early morning fire Friday at the downtown Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale.
No guests were injured, but nearly 300 people were left standing outside for hours as firefighters extinguished the blaze.
The fire was reported about 2 a.m. in the kitchen of a restaurant on the 19th floor of the hotel, located on Temple Street.
The fire, reported in the ceiling, set off loud alarms and an estimated 289 guests in the hotel were evacuated for about two hours. They started returning to their rooms at about 4 a.m.
Cathleen Burns of Danbury had checked in Thursday night hoping to get a good night's sleep in anticipation of biopsy surgery at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
She was sound asleep in her room on the 17th floor when she heard the loud hotel alarm sound. She had a sense that it wasn't a drill, woke her friend and soaked some towels with water to bring with them.
Outside, an estimated 289 guests congregated across the street, at first in front of the Playwright restaurant and then in a nearby courtyard, some in pajamas and robes, others in suit jackets and shorts.
The hotel was almost entirely booked. Burns said she and her friend caught a shuttle to the Yale emergency room, where they were given blankets and pillows and a "corner to curl up in" and made it back to the hotel a little after 5 a.m., she said.
Assistant Fire Chief Ralph Black said the department was sent on an alarm and even before they arrived were notified that there was a working fire in the top floor of the hotel.
The fire reached a second alarm as firefighters chased fire in the ceilings.
"There's considerable damage. We had to pull ceilings and pull down duct work going away from some of the cooking machinery," he said.
There was some minor water damage on the floor below, he said.
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries. When the fire was reported, workers were powerwashing the cooking equipment and Black said investigators were trying to determine if that played any role.
Burns did manage to make it to her surgery and said the hotel didn't charge guests for the night.
"I'm grateful that it wasn't worse than it was," she said. "It was a minor inconvenience compared to a lot of things in life."
No guests were injured, but nearly 300 people were left standing outside for hours as firefighters extinguished the blaze.
The fire was reported about 2 a.m. in the kitchen of a restaurant on the 19th floor of the hotel, located on Temple Street.
The fire, reported in the ceiling, set off loud alarms and an estimated 289 guests in the hotel were evacuated for about two hours. They started returning to their rooms at about 4 a.m.
Cathleen Burns of Danbury had checked in Thursday night hoping to get a good night's sleep in anticipation of biopsy surgery at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
She was sound asleep in her room on the 17th floor when she heard the loud hotel alarm sound. She had a sense that it wasn't a drill, woke her friend and soaked some towels with water to bring with them.
Outside, an estimated 289 guests congregated across the street, at first in front of the Playwright restaurant and then in a nearby courtyard, some in pajamas and robes, others in suit jackets and shorts.
The hotel was almost entirely booked. Burns said she and her friend caught a shuttle to the Yale emergency room, where they were given blankets and pillows and a "corner to curl up in" and made it back to the hotel a little after 5 a.m., she said.
Assistant Fire Chief Ralph Black said the department was sent on an alarm and even before they arrived were notified that there was a working fire in the top floor of the hotel.
The fire reached a second alarm as firefighters chased fire in the ceilings.
"There's considerable damage. We had to pull ceilings and pull down duct work going away from some of the cooking machinery," he said.
There was some minor water damage on the floor below, he said.
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries. When the fire was reported, workers were powerwashing the cooking equipment and Black said investigators were trying to determine if that played any role.
Burns did manage to make it to her surgery and said the hotel didn't charge guests for the night.
"I'm grateful that it wasn't worse than it was," she said. "It was a minor inconvenience compared to a lot of things in life."
