Police and firefighters had to evacuate people from a portion of Bismarck's Best Western Ramkota hotel after a fire broke out in a storage room.
The Bismarck Police Department and Bismarck Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at the Ramkota, 800 S. Third St., at 7:29 p.m. Saturday.
Bismarck Police Sgt. Mark Buschena said hotel employees directed an officer to the fire in a storage room. Officers evacuated people from the northwest portion of the hotel after firefighters arrived.
Chairs stored in the storage room were burning, and significant amounts of smoke were coming from the fire, according to the fire department. Firefighters confined the fire to the storage room, and the majority of the fire was extinguished in 15 minutes. It took an additional hour and a half to clear smoke from the rest of the building.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Damage to the structure of hotel is estimated at $5,000, and $2,000 worth of chairs also were damaged. No one was injured.
- Jenny Michael
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