Guests evacuate hotel during electrical fire.

February 11, 2018

Photo from Hart Area Fire Department’s Facebook page of Sunday morning’s fire scene.

Guests evacuate hotel during electrical fire.

#OceanaCountyNews

By Allison Scarbrough. Editor.

HART — Guests staying at the Dunes Express Inn & Suites evacuated the building during an early-morning electrical fire Sunday, Feb. 11, according to Manager Sheri Campagna.

No one was hurt, Campagna said. “We’re thankful the fire departments got here so quickly.”

Firefighters from Hart, Shelby and Pentwater were dispatched to the scene at approximately 12:30 a.m., she said. The departments remained on scene for at least two hours.

The fire began in an AC unit in one of the main floor rooms, which was not occupied, Campagna said. The front desk clerk heard an alarm and then saw smoke coming from the room.

Jack White, chief for both Hart and Shelby departments, said Sunday evening that the fire appears to have started in that unit. “We don’t know for certain, but we will be going back to take a look at it.”

Damage from the blaze is contained to the room where it originated. The curtains and mattress caught fire. However, there is water and smoke damage in the main floor hallway and eight other rooms, Campagna said.

Guests from the 11 occupied rooms were provided blankets and remained in their cars on the cold February morning until they were given an “all clear” from fire personnel to return inside. The fire departments did a thorough job to ensure the hotel was safe, she said.

“It smelled horrible,” Campagna said. Fans were used to clear out the smoke.

Now, crews are working to repair smoke damage and water damage from the hotel sprinklers and the fire hoses.

“It could have been a lot worse,” Campagna said. “But right now all we have is a big mess.”

The 61-room hotel, which is the former Comfort Inn, is back to full operations today. It is located at 2248 N. Comfort Dr. near the intersection of Polk Road and US 31.

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