Sprinklers Help Guests Escape Fire At Route 1 Hotel

ALEXANDRIA, VA — A lightning strike during a Friday evening thunderstorm sparked a fire at a local hotel that displaced 50 guests, according to the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department. There were no injuries reported, but the Route 1 hotel sustained about $65,000 in damage.

The fire department credited the hotel's fire sprinkler system with containing the two-alarm blaze and helping guests to safely evacuate the building.

Firefighters from Fairfax County and Alexandria responded at 6:05 p.m. Friday to the report of a fire at the Fairfield Inn & Suites By Marriott, at 6421 Richmond Highway (Route 1), a few blocks south of the Beltway in the Belle Haven area.

A hotel manager called 911 after he heard a lightning strike outside followed by a loss of power to the building, activating the fire and smoke alarms. Twenty-five rooms were occupied at the time, the fire department said.

There was no fire or smoke visible from the outside of the three-story hotel when firefighters arrived, but they encountered smoke in a third-floor hallway.

The crews tracked down the fire "in the mechanical room on the roof, attic and walls between some of the third-floor rooms," the fire department said. Nearby sprinklers were activated and limited the spread of the blaze.

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The hotel relocated the guests with the help of the fire department, which summoned a Fairfax Connector bus to the scene.

Fire investigators determined that the blaze was an act of nature and began in the hotel's attic space, the fire department said. It damaged the attic and two unoccupied rooms.

Images: Firefighters respond to Friday's blaze at the Fairfield Inn & Suites on Route 1 (Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department).