When Officers Bolling and Adkins of the Conway Police Dept. arrived at the Holiday Inn Express in Conway, AR, it was in absolute chaos - Windows were shattered, there was water on the floors, 100-150 people were standing in the parking lot, and a fire alarm was clanging away in the background. And no fire.

Turns out the panic and the scene from hell on June 6 was a result of a prank call. Hotel employee Christina Bergmann recieved a call and the caller identified himself as an employee of Grennel Fire Sprinkler service.

He said there was some problem with the sprinklers, and she needed to turn on the fire alarm to reset them. When she couldn’t push the fire alarm lever back up to shut it off, the caller advised her to break exterior windows to stop the sprinklers from coming on.

Bergmann was at this point joined by a customer named Rusty Brown, and the two of them then started breaking windows, as instructed. After more damage, inculding opening up one sprinkler head which ensured a gush of water flowing and more damage, the fire dept., the hotel’s maager and the cops were called in.

The total damage due to the windows, carpet, electrical system and cleanup costs exceed $50,000. And apparently these kind of prank calls aren’t all that uncommon. Motels in Little Rock, AR and Daphne, AL have also been targeted.

In the case of the Comfort Suites in Daphne, Alabama, a guest recieved a call which said the hotel was one fire, and he should turn on the sprinkler. The guest activated the sprinkler system, and the hotel now faces a large amount in damages.

Posted on June 10th, 2009 by Thomas
Filed under: Hotels