Convention center fire believed started from unspecified mechanical malfunction near HVAC equipment
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- UPDATE: On Thursday, Captain James Pearce, Chief Fire Investigator for the city, tells ABC11 that the fire is believed to have been caused by an unspecified mechanical malfunction in the area of HVAC equipment on the roof.
The exact cause is still under investigation.
Previous Report
The ABC11 I-Team is investigating the fire safety systems at the Raleigh Convention Center.
The I-Team has obtained recent city fire marshal safety inspection records for this year. The documents show nine failures during a building fire code inspection in May of this year.
The reports from the fire marshal's office show multiple fire code violations, including:
- Failures of the fire alarm system;
- Maintenance of the sprinkler system;
- And making sure sprinklers were free of obstruction.
Safety Inspection Report
Raleigh's fire chief said the first calls came in around 9:30 p.m. Monday, and firefighters had the flames under control about 25 minutes after arriving.
The chief says the quick response time prevented a major catastrophe.
"It's very challenging if the water sources are on the ground. So, they had to connect to the actual fire department connection at the Raleigh Convention Center," Herbert Griffin with the Raleigh Fire Department told ABC11. "And take all the hose equipment upstairs to the rooftop, connect to the stairwell, and go up to the top and fight the fire from an operational standpoint from the top of the roof."
Raleigh Convention Center Executive Director Kerry Painter says the fire safety inspection failures have since been addressed.
"The vendor did not upload the reports at the end once they inspected everything," she said. It was our annual inspection. It did exactly what it's supposed to do: look around to see if there are things that should be corrected or updated or repaired. And we did all of those and had it submitted, and they have not uploaded the paperwork. We're working to get that done."
The $2M Fire and Quick Response
The I-Team is also learning what inspectors believe started the fire, and learning about the extent of the roughly $2 million of damage.
Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell provided an update during the council meeting on Tuesday afternoon.
"Their sprinklers were set off in the building," she said. "So there has been some damage where sprinklers damaged some of the kitchen and some perishable goods, that kind of thing."
The fire started around 9:30 p.m. Monday, and firefighters had it under control in 25 minutes.
The I-Team is learning new details about where investigators believe the fire started.
Public records indicate investigators believe the fire started in an HVAC unit on the roof.
The fire started above the kitchen, and water damaged several areas in the kitchen. Investigators also say steel structural members were exposed to fire and high heat.
ABC11 is also learning about the quick actions of the brave men and women who ran towards the smoke and flames.
Raleigh Fire Chief Herbert Griffin says at least 61 personnel from 20 different fire stations responded fast.
"The response times reduce risk and to be on a location within two minutes. The actual standard is four minutes and 50 plus seconds. They got there within 2 minutes. So that's exceptional."
Chief Griffin says the fast response prevented a greater catastrophe from happening.
"It was strictly rooftop damage, no interior damage whatsoever. Like I said, this could have easily been a catastrophic event with a building of 500,000 square feet," he said. "The men and women and the fire department, Raleigh Police Department, Wake County EMS do an excellent job of getting that fire contained."
Mayor Cowell also praised the quick actions of firefighters.
Nearby businesses feel the heat
As flames were bursting out of the Raleigh Convention Center, down the street at Whiskey Kitchen, workers could see the fire from their staff holiday party.
"And so, we all kind of rushed outside, and we're right down the street from it. And so we are all kind of watching it unfold, following the live news that was coming out on it," said Chris Brennan of Whiskey Kitchen. "They took care of it pretty quick, but it was you could see the plume in the sky. It was pretty, pretty crazy. Yeah."
The workers were happy no one was hurt, but now they're worried about business during the holidays. Being walking distance from the convention center, Whiskey Kitchen is a prime spot for people to stop in.
"We had like four or five conventions, I think, over the next week, just this week alone. And just being so close to it, we're definitely one of the main restaurants that we have foot traffic from," said another worker.
The convention center is working to relocate several of the scheduled events planned for the upcoming weeks.
SEE ALSO | Raleigh Convention Center shares first look at new expansion project
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