All’s well that ends well with Holiday Inn smoke scare

CLOVERDALE -- What must have initially been a scary situation for guests at the Holiday Inn Express in Cloverdale over the weekend became an example of professionalism by hotel staff and the Cloverdale Township Fire Department.

At about 8:30 p.m. Friday, an alarm went out to CTFD, indicating that a fire had possibly started at the hotel. Before firefighters arrived on the scene, hotel staff had traced the smell of smoke to the third floor of the Holiday Inn.

According to police scanner dialogue, firefighters and hotel staff evacuated all of the guests into the outside parking lot around 8:50 p.m., going door-to-door to get them away from the smoke and to determine that no fires had started in the rooms.

The smoke was traced to an elevator shaft on the third floor, and it was finally determined that hydraulic fluid in the elevator’s mechanics had become extremely hot. At the same time, first-responders closed and manned all exits to the building to contain everyone who had been evacuated.

In a statement to the Banner Graphic Monday afternoon, general manager Christina Payton, who was present during the evacuation, related that the windows on the third floor were opened to ventilate the smoke.

CTFD did not leave the property until after 10:30 p.m. following a thorough check inside the hotel.

The Greencastle Fire Department arrived on the scene at about 9 p.m. and used its aerial truck to check the roof for any traces of a fire.

Payton relayed that the Holiday Inn was at capacity, as it was occupied with guests in town for the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival, as well as an event at the C Bar C Expo Center. Members of a regional Porsche auto club were also staying at the hotel when the incident occurred.

The elevator, which was new and had been recently installed, was put out of service for the rest of the weekend, Payton said. Despite this, she expressed gratitude to the first-responders and hotel staff who organized the evacuation.

“It was an unfortunate incident, and I’m thankful for the fire department’s help with this situation,” Payton said. “I’ve had several compliments about how the evacuation was handled, and we did our best to ensure the safety of our guests and employees.”

As of Monday, the elevator was back in service, and no other damage was reportedly found inside the building.