Small Fire Extinguished at Village at Breckenridge

Saturday, March 24, 2007 - Breckenridge, CO

At approximately 8:40 p.m. Friday night, Red, White & Blue firefighters were called to a fire in the hot tub equipment room at the Village at Breckenridge Village Hotel.

When firefighters arrived on scene, they finished extinguishing a small fire that had started when an employee spilled approximately one gallon of 35% hydrogen peroxide concentration onto the floor. He then used a towel to wipe it up, rinsed the towel and set it in the room to dry.

Guests staying on the same floor thought they smelled smoke and contacted the front desk. When front desk personnel went to investigate, they noticed a small fire in the room and quickly started to put it out with an extinguisher, immediately calling 9-1-1.

"The fire was started from spontaneous combustion of the towel," said Fire Investigator Lt. Jay Nelson. "Hydrogen peroxide at that concentration needs to be diluted with large amounts of water to make the solution non-combustible," he said.

The fire was contained to the hot tub equipment room and damage is minimal, estimated at approximately $300.

"We encourage citizens responsible for handling chemicals to first review their Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) when deciding how to clean up spills," said PIO Captain Kim Scott. "If they have any questions, please contact your local fire department," she said.

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Press Contact:
Capt. Kim Scott, PIO
cell: 970.485.4374
email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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