SANTA ROSA BEACH, Fla. --- South Walton Fire District firefighters responded to two structure fire incidents on the afternoon of Thursday, June 25, including a hotel and residence under construction.

The first call came into SWFD Dispatch around 12:30 p.m. as a commercial fire alarm activation at the Holiday Inn Express in Miramar Beach on US Highway 98.

First-arriving Engine 5 crews initially saw no signs of fire from the hotel’s exterior. Hotel management then met the crews and reported a potential fire on the hotel’s fourth floor. Engine 5 requested a full commercial structure fire response to bring additional apparatus and crews to the scene. They discovered sprinklers on the fourth floor were suppressing flames and smoke coming from an ice machine.

Firefighters extinguished the fire and isolated it to the involved appliance. Hotel occupants were evacuated for approximately an hour until the incident was mitigated. Fortunately, the fire was limited to the ice machine areas and did not impact the hotel

rooms.

Then around 4:30 p.m., firefighters responded to the Blue Mountain Beach area, where 911 callers reported a fire in a home under construction. Reports also included an unknown number of construction workers inside the home and attempting to put the fire out with fire extinguishers.

Station 3 firefighters were first on-scene and found smoke coming from the front door. They initiated fire attack and a primary search, finding fire in the space between the home’s first and second floors.

Multiple searches of the residence confirmed no one was inside and crews confined the fire to the floor space. Firefighters remained on-scene for approximately two hours overhauling the structure, where the incident commander determined the fire’s cause was related to construction work.

No injuries were reported in either incident. Both locations suffered moderate fire and water damage.

The District shares its appreciation for the partnership and response of all agencies who were involved in the calls throughout the day and provided coverage within South Walton.