Press releases

Fire causes damage in Westin Galleria Hotel bathroom

Edina, Minn., March 5, 2009 – The Edina Fire Department extinguished a small bathroom fire earlier this month at the Westin Galleria Hotel.

The Edina Fire Department responded to a water flow alarm and report of smoke at the Westin Galleria Hotel just after 5 a.m. Wednesday, March 4. Crews arrived to discover fire coming from underneath a sink in one of the hotel’s first-floor bathrooms. The building’s fire sprinklers were controlling the fire, but were unable to completely extinguish it. Crews initially used a fire extinguisher to put out the blaze, but it flared up again moments later inside the sink’s cabinetry. Firefighters were forced to remove the bathroom’s marble countertop in order to completely extinguish the fire.

The cause of the fire is unknown and is still under investigation. According to Edina Fire Marshal Tom Jenson, the building’s fire sprinkler system performed exactly as it should -- keeping the fire under control and unable to spread to other areas of the building until the Fire Department arrived. Because of smoke, fire and water damage, the bathroom will require some remodeling and sheetrock replacement.

For more information, visit www.CityofEdina.com/Fire or call the Edina Fire Department at 952-826-0378.