Firefighters responded to a call about smoke inside the Quality Inn Festus, 1200 W. Gannon Drive, in Festus on Tuesday evening (July 21). It turned out there was no fire, and the smoke was from a problem with a rooftop air-conditioning unit, Festus Fire Chief Kevin Cremer said.
The fire department arrived at the scene shortly after someone pulled a fire alarm at about 6:20 p.m. Cremer said he didn’t know how many people were in the hotel at the time, but staff had safely evacuated everyone from the hotel before firefighters arrived on the scene.
“We had a report of smoke in the building on the first floor,” Cremer said. “It ended up being a blower in an air conditioner on the roof. That’s what caused the smoke inside. They had evacuated the building and once we ventilated, they were allowed back in.”
He said maintenance staff shut down the air-conditioning unit causing the smoke. Firefighters remained on the scene for about an hour, he said.
The Crystal City and Herculaneum fire departments and the Dunklin, Hematite and Jefferson R-7 fire protection districts helped with the call, Cremer said.