Mooresville Hotel Saved By Sprinklers During Grease Fire: MFR

MOORESVILLE, NC — Mooresville fire officials are crediting a hotel sprinkler system at the Hilton Garden Inn for protecting occupants and $11 million in property after it successfully extinguished a grease fire Sunday.

The March 1 grease fire began around 5:30 a.m. in the kitchen of the hotel located at 159 Gateway Boulevard in Mooresville.

“Although the hood suppression system activated, the fire spread to nearby cardboard boxes but was successfully extinguished by the building’s fire sprinkler system when three sprinkler heads activated,” and put the fire out before firefighters arrived on the scene, Mooresville Fire-Rescue said Monday morning in a statement.

Damage was limited to a small area of the kitchen, according to fire officials, who say the incident is a reminder to stay vigilant about fire safety when traveling.

“According to the US Fire Administration, each year, there are an estimated 3,900 hotel and motel fires that cause 15 deaths, 100 injuries, and $100 million in property losses,” MFR said. The hotel has a fire sprinkler system because building codes required it at the time it was built in 2007.

Want to see how fire safe your favorite hotel is? Travelers can look up hotels to see if they have hard-wired smoke alarms and automatic fire sprinklers here.