500 at Hotel Given Early Call--by Smoke Alarms

It was a rude awakening at 4:20 a.m. Sunday for about 500 guests at the Sheraton-Anaheim.

The purposely annoying noise of smoke alarms filled the four-story “executive building,” a section of the hotel, rousting guests out of their slumber. But it was a false alarm.

Anaheim Fire Battalion Chief Steve Magliocco said one or more people took hotel fire extinguishers and discharged them in a hallway. The powder emitted by the extinguishers was picked up by the smoke detectors, which let out their blasts, he said.

John Schulz, Sheraton’s general manager, said the maximum number of people were rousted out of bed by the noise. All 265 rooms in the building were full Saturday night, “almost completely double occupancy.”

The evacuees were ushered into the hotel’s coffee shop, which opened early with complimentary juice and coffee in honor of the false alarm. Others spent the pre-dawn hours in the lobby. He said the guests took the inconvenience “very well.”

Magliocco said hotel personnel had most of the guests evacuated by the time firefighters arrived. The Fire Department went from room to room to make sure everyone was out and everything was safe, he said. In addition, the Police Department was called in to secure each floor to guard against theft in the unattended rooms, he said.

Guests were personally ushered back to their rooms to assure security, Schulz said. The last guests were back in their beds by 6 a.m., he said.

Fire investigators were looking into the incident. Magliocco said he was told some light fixtures were broken and that there had been some parties at the hotel that night.

But Schulz said the only party was a wedding reception, “which I don’t believe would have contributed to the problem.” He said the damage was restricted to two broken light bulbs.