The Retlaw Hotel in downtown Fond du Lac was evacuated after fire sprinklers inadvertently activated Tuesday night on the main floor of the hotel. Fond du Lac Fire and Rescue Division Chief of Community Risk Reduction and Life Safety Jason Roberts says fire sprinklers were activated in the hotel’s mechanical room on the main floor next to the kitchen. “Our main concern was the sprinkler head was directly above the main electrical panel and some subpanels,” Roberts told WFDL news. “When crews were in this room they noted that one of the panels started smoking due to the water making contact with the electrical component.” Roberts says investigators aren’t sure why the sprinklers activated. “We’ve had several other occurences in the city in recent days due to the cold weather causing activation and malfunction of sprinkler systems. Not certain if that is related to this case.” Roberts says the hotel is closed until the problem is fixed.
