Fire at Disneyland Hotel - Grand Californian

[simzac]

Just saw on the news there is a fire at one of the Disneyland hotels. Anyone have any further news. :confused3

[debabe723]

I just heard it started about 3am at the Grand Californian. The Christmas tree in the lobby caught on fire. All guests were evacuated and no one was injured.

[simzac]

Glad to hear no one was hurt :earsboy:

[CamColt]

OH my goodness! How scary for those there. I'm so glad no one was hurt and I hope the damage to that beautiful lobby was minimal.

[Dale-n-Chip]

Christmas tree catches fire at Disneyland hotel
Associated Press
ANAHEIM, Calif. - A 35-foot Christmas tree caught fire in the lobby of the Disneyland Grand Californian Hotel early Wednesday but nobody suffered serious injuries, a fire official said.

The hotel's sprinkler system kept the 3 a.m. blaze in check and firefighters were able to quickly put it out, said Maria Sabol, a spokeswoman for the Anaheim Fire Department.

The 745-room hotel in the center of the Disneyland Resort was at full capacity with about 2,300 guests, said Rob Doughty, the resort's vice president of communications. They were evacuated to three locations in and around the park, and hotel officials hoped to get them back into their rooms by 7 a.m. Pacific Time, he said.

Guest Lee Crice of Phoenix told KTLA-TV that he saw the top six feet of the tree were ablaze as he fled through the hotel lobby after being awakened by the fire alarm. Television footage showed firefighters spraying water on the artificial tree and gray smoke wafting through the cavernous lobby.
About 18 firefighters responded to the alarm, Sabol said. The cause of the fire is under investigation, she said.

Two guests were treated at the scene for minor injuries and released, Doughty said. One complained of a strained back and the other of stress symptoms from the evacuation, he said.

[Dale-n-Chip]

Of course I'm glad everyone is OK and the damage to the GCH was minimal. The question DH and I keep asking is "So where do you put 2300 awakened guests at 3 a.m.?" It's not like the resorts aren't at capacity this week!

Anybody want to guess? :confused3

[bicker]

It sounds like only some public areas were affected, so guests will be able to return to their rooms in short-order.

[Tikiman]

They put people out in the Calif Adv. park.

[disneyma]

It sounds like only some public areas were affected, so guests will be able to return to their rooms in short-order.


I have a friend who is staying at the hotel and their room was rather far from the lobby. They have been told they will not be able to return to their room until about 6:30 (PT) They were sent over to the Disneyland hotel. There was also several busses brought in to keep people together.

I should hear a bit more soon.

[Joe&Peg]

CNN just had a short story about a Disney World resort having a Christmas tree file. They didn't mention which resort, but it looked like AKL or WL. Anybody heard anything?? The story said it happened about 3am and no one was hurt,

[Joe&Peg]

The fire was at DISNEYLAND's Grand Californian hotel.

[Mary Jo]

I just saw on the news that some workers were changing the lights on the tree, and when they plugged the lights back in there was an electrical fire. The fire sprinklers in the lobby when off, and the fire department doused the tree. There is water damage in the Grand Lobby, and a little bit of a burn on the beam above. By 8am the tree is now gone, and they are cleaning up the lobby.

[Albertan mom]

WOW! How exciting at 3am!
Hope everyone is OK and the lobby can be restored!
We saw that tree when we were there, and it was huge and beautiful.

[maxiesmom]

They also have said that now many resort guests are saying how stressed they are from the fire! Any excuse for a lawsuit! People should be ashamed of themselves! :sad2:

[Tikiman]

They were working on the lights of the tree in the Grand Californian lobby last night and there was an electrical fire. People were evacuated out into the park and moved over to the Disneyland hotel. There was extensive water damage and some burns to the lobby. When I came into work this morning (6:00 AM Pacific Time) the people were still out of their rooms and not being allowed back in.

[Esmerelda]

Yikes.....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10597242/from/RS.1/

glad it all turned out ok for the guests...


E..

[dznyacct]

I saw the blurb about that on the news this afternoon. The headline was "Disney hotel tree fire". At first DH and I both thought it was WL (our home DVC resort and one of our favorite lobbies to hang out in). We heard that it was DL and DH said "If it was WL, you know that we would HAVE to go check it out in person!" Not that I would wish a fire at WL, but an impromptu trip to WDW would be nice!

[macs4us]

They also have said that now many resort guests are saying how stressed they are from the fire! Any excuse for a lawsuit! People should be ashamed of themselves! :sad2:

WOW - how can you say that? I have stayed at the GC and had to evacuate twice in one night because of the fire alarm going off - IT WAS STRESSFUL!!! I am a very calm and collected individual, a lifeguard who has saved more than one person, and I have to tell you that waking up and having to evacuate my niece and sister not knowing exactly what is going on brings stress to a new level. Fortunately they were false alarms and we were able to return to our rooms, what a nightmare if we had to leave our rooms for an extended period of time. Please don't assume that everyone is out to get something when they are asked questions by reporters and just stating how they honestly feel, especially at this time of year. Give people the benefit of the doubt...

[disney-super-mom]

Yes, I agree it would be very stressful to have to evacuate at 3:00 am, and not be allowed back in for an extended period of time.

No clothes except for what you were wearing in bed, no shoes for some who didn't have time to put on their shoes, no access to diapers or bottles for those with babies, no access to purses/wallets/money if you didn't have time to grab those items before evacuating, no access to medications, etc..........

It would be quite stressful I believe, not to mention a very sad event to occur while on vacation. However, even though I would be mad/stressed/tired/disappointed, I would be VERY GRATEFUL that my loved ones were safe and that no one was hurt. :sunny:

[DaveO]

But the news report I saw stated that the stress was an 'injury'. This leads one to believe someone is already looking for a lawsuit if they told a reporter or the police they were 'injured'.

For that they SHOULD be ashamed.

Dave

[disney-super-mom]

But the news report I saw stated that the stress was an 'injury'. This leads one to believe someone is already looking for a lawsuit if they told a reporter or the police they were 'injured'.

For that they SHOULD be ashamed.

Dave
I believe the person who talked to reporters about the two resort guests that were treated at the scene was Rob Doughty, the resort's V.P. of communications, not the actual guests themselves.

One guest was treated for a strained back, and the other was treated for symptoms of stress.

I don't think anyone has done anything they should be ashamed of - YET. :sunny:

[Razor Roman]

I'm sure everyone got their room comped for that night, or some free breakfasts or something.... which is what I would expect for a completely ruined night's sleep :-) Thank God no one was hurt. I'll be checking in to the Disneyland Hotel next Tues. I will have to check out the GC if I have some time

[Daisie]

I just caught the end of a news story - a disney hotel tree caught on fire and they had to evacuate 2000 guests - all is well, but I was curious which hotel it was.

:sunny:

[Bride In The Attic]

It was the Grand Californian at DL, not WDW....I saw it on foxnews.com....sounds like it could have been a lot worse than what it was....

[Daisie]

Thanks - I new I could get a quick response here!!

[Laurabearz]

Just saw a blurb on the news.... Looked like at the GC hotel.. the Christmas tree...

Can anyone comfirm???

[SchultzFamily]

I saw it on the news too. They said the Christmas tree in the lobby caught fire after light bulbs were changed. Over 2000 people evacuated (at 3am!) no one was hurt ant they were back in their rooms 2 hours later!

[donaldsgal]

This was just shown on the Cleveland news, and said the "cause of the fire is under investigation." Pretty scary. Glad no one was hurt!

[gjw89]

Heard on the news that some were relocated. Glad to hear no one was injured though :grouphug:

[Laurabearz]

Our news said it happened at 3 am.... my heart goes out to all those asleep and were awakened to such a scary thing....

[mrFDNY]

fire?did someone say fire,i'm here?
ok here's the scoop,
small x mas tree fire deemed elertical fire in nature,was put out very quickly after the fire dept arrival.apparently only seconds after work crews changed some of the burned out blubs on the tree and kicked the power back on it burst into flames,there were 2 reported injurys minor and they did'nt not go to the hospital.one a lower back strain and the other a anxiety attack.water damage to the floor lobby of the hotel was said to be minimal.

[DisnyMama]

They had just changed bulbs on the main tree in the lobby of the Grand Californian, turned the tree back on and the wiring began to smoke and caught fire and set off all the sprinklers and alarm in the main lobby.

[KPeterso]

Our friends are staying there. They said Disney handled the situation really well. Their only complaint was being out of their rooms for over 3 hours in the middle of the night with young kids, and that they were so exhausted that they were not able to get up early to be at the parks at 8 AM like planned, so they lost valuable park time before the masses of crowds really arrived. They were comped the night's room, but were still disappointed that they were not given extra fast passes for what they missed early yesterday morning.

[monami7]

DH says...marshmallows anyone????

[SRUAlmn]

Thanks for the info. I just caught the end of the story on CNN the other day at my mom's house and thought it looked like the Grand Californian. Glad everyone is ok!

[Beth8266]

DH says...marshmallows anyone????

sorry, but LMBO!!

[BriarRose59]

My family was there for our own "California Adventure" on Wednesday morning. Disney handled the situation very well and the resort guests in our area were calm and followed the fire evacuation plan that was posted on the wall in the hallway. When we evacuated the building we ended up in Downtown Disney. We were not there for more than a few minutes when we were ushered into California Adventure. The restaurant at Soarin' was opened for us, then a Disney rep came in to let us know the Hyperion Theater was open and the chairs were more comfortable. Disney provided blankets, strollers, wheelchairs, diapers, pacifiers, coffee, hot chocolate, tea and pastries within a short amount of time. We heard people making special requests such as soy milk and those were handled quickly. I was just glad no one as seriously hurt. I applaud Disney for their prompt response to this emergency. We were told the tree in the lobby had caught on fire and that the sprinkler system went off flooding the lobby. Their first concern was for the guests' safety so we were not allowed back in until the water was cleaned up. I took pictures of the lobby beginning when we returned to our room but if anyone has pictures of the actual fire I would like one for my scrapbook. The ceiling was charred and there were burned spots on the carpet. The flooring and subfloor were quickly removed and a new frame was built to bring the floor level with the tiled area. A new subfloor was built then padding and a temporary carpet were in by Saturday night.

Great job Disney!