The Chillicothe Fire Department responded to a call of smoke in the maintenance room at the Comfort Inn of Chillicothe on Friday.
Battalion Chief Les Hinnen reports a maintenance person told firefighters smoke was coming from the maintenance room when he opened the door, and he directed the firefighters to that room.
Hinnen says the alarm system for the building did not sound, and there was no visible smoke, however, there was a “strong odor” of what appeared to be hot electrical wires. A thermal imager was used to scan the area to look for hotter than normal items, and adjoining hotel rooms and the attic were checked.
Upon further investigation, Hinnen notes firefighters found burnt wires on top of one of the hot water heaters in the back of the room, and the thermal imager showed heat over 500 degrees on top of the water heater.
Power to the water heater was shut off, and an electrician was to check it upon his arrival.
The Chillicothe Fire Department was on scene about 30 minutes.
