An Aberdeen hotel was condemned by county and city building code enforcement officials following a fire Wednesday morning, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office.
Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire in two unoccupied rooms of the Days Inn hotel in Aberdeen, in the 700 block of West Bel Air Avenue, but not before the fire caused about $40,000 in damages, according to fire officials.
A routine investigation of the premises by fire investigators found what the fire marshal's office called "serious and multiple fire, building and electrical violations."
The fire was reported by a passerby about 9:37 a.m., according to a notice of investigation from the fire marshal's office.
About 30 firefighters from the Aberdeen Fire Department, Level Volunteer Fire Company and Aberdeen Proving Ground Fire Department brought the fire under control in about five minutes. There were no injuries.
"Fire originated in an unoccupied hotel room (Room 312)," the notice of investigation states. "The fire spread through the electrical outlet, igniting the bed covering and mattress in the adjacent room (Room 311). The fire was contained to both rooms. A routine inspection of the other hotel rooms and facilities discovered serious and multiple fire, building and electrical violations prompting the hotel to be condemned by Harford County and Aberdeen Code Enforcement."
By Thursday, the city had ordered the hotel to be vacated, according to Deputy Chief Mark Bilger of the fire marshal's office.
He said the fire marshal identified 25 units in the hotel that "did not have working smoke alarms or did not have smoke alarms at all." These rooms were being occupied and did not meet the minimum requirement of the state fire prevention code, he added.
"Cooking was also going on in the rooms," Bilger said, another violation. The rooms are "not designed for that kind of operation."
The notice of investigation also states that the building had smoke alarms that did not activate, but the report is not clear about the status of any fire suppression sprinkler system, stating: "present - did not activate. Non sprinklered - not required at time of construction."
The notice also states the fire originated in a nightstand light cord.
According to state tax records, the Aberdeen Days Inn was built in 1973 and is owned by Pooja LLC.
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