While flames and smoke billowed over downtown Raleigh from the roof of the Raleigh Convention Center Monday night, attracting plenty of attention from those in nearby condos, hotel rooms and on the street, the fire did not spread to any nearby buildings, and there was limited damage inside the building, Mayor Janet Cowell said.
"This could have easily been a catastrophic event with a building of 500,000 square feet," Raleigh Fire Chief Herbert Griffin said.
Other WRAL Top Stories
City of Raleigh Julia Milstead said security officers were inside the convention center at time the fire broke out, but they were able to quickly get out of the building.
Griffin estimated that the damage to the roof would amount to about $2 million.
He added that the timing -- late in the evening -- was fortuitous in that firefighters were able to focus on containing the blaze and not worry about getting people out of the building safely.
Firefighters worked from the roof and inside the building, searching to make sure the fire had not spread, Griffin said.
The blaze was found to be "gas fueled" after an initial investigation, the association said.
"When the incident commander and the units got on top of the roof is when they realized that there was a natural gas feed," Griffin said. They than asked that the gas be turned off in order to bring the blaze under control.
Cowell said it was still unclear Tuesday afternoon what caused the gas leak that sparked the fire.
Dana Hariton said her husband was just at the convention center hours earlier for a DECA event. After learning about the fire from her son, she said it was a scary thing to think about.
“Obviously with my husband being there earlier in the day, knowing there were thousands of people at the convention center and knowing how much it is used puts a tug in your heart that this could have been a very different scenario if people were in the building when in the fire happened.”
On Tuesday, city of Raleigh officials said the cleanup was underway inside the convention center as water and residue were seen left throughout the building.
According to Cowell, during Tuesday's city council meeting, temporary roofing will be installed at the convention center to prevent further water damage. Cowell added that it is still in the reviewing phase and they will need "some time to get this reopened to the public on a normal basis."
"This is getting a little more complex, there are a lot of moving parts," Cowell said.
Raleigh Convention Center fire out within minutes
Griffin credited quick work by his team under challenging conditions with containing the fire.
"What goes into rooftop extinguisher operation is very difficult," he said Tuesday morning.
"It's very challenging because ... the water source is on the ground. So therefore they had to connect to the actual fire department connection at the Raleigh Convention Center and take all the hoses and equipment upstairs to the rooftop, connect to the stairwell and go up to the top and fight the fire from an operational standpoint from the top of the roof."
The fire was reported around 9:30 p.m. It ran the entire length of the roof, according to a post from the Raleigh Professional Firefighters Association on Tuesday.
According Broadcastify Emergency Responder radio traffic, crews can be heard repeating “the fire is on the roof.”
“It’s running the entire roof of the roof,” crews said.
Crews can also be heard calling the flames a “gas-fed fire.”
Griffin said fire units arrived at the convention center within two minutes of the first call to 911.
"The actual standard is four minutes and 50-plus seconds. They got there within two minutes. So that's exceptional," Griffin said.
"From the time of dispatch, you're looking at roughly 25 minutes, the fire was contained and extinguished," Griffin said.
He praised the work of firefighters and added thanks for the Raleigh Police Department, Wake County EMS and agents with the State Bureau of Investigation who also responded.
Future of events unclear at Raleigh Convention Center
City of Raleigh building engineers began looking at the damage to the roof on Tuesday. They will assess the structure to determine when it is safe again for use.
No events were happening at the center at the time.
Cowell called the convention center an "important civic asset" and said, "I hope we can repair damage and have it back functioning normally as soon as possible."
WRAL checked the Raleigh Convention Center’s website. The North Carolina Cybersecurity Summit is scheduled to host their convention on Wednesday and Thursday, while Advance Community Health is scheduled to host a Holiday Party Friday.
Although Cowell said damage to the inside of the center was limited to, it is not clear how the fire will potentially impact those and other future events scheduled at the Raleigh Convention Center.
WRAL’s Kat Campbell said that light winds helped firefighters battle the flames and smoke. However, Campbell also noted, the Triangle is expected to receive nearly one inch of rain Tuesday. It is not clear if the damage to the convention center roof was such that rain might leak inside.
"I will be interested to know how fast we can get this up and running," Cowell said.
"The fact that there's no interior damage suggests that it's going to be replacement of some pretty major parts, but at least it sounds like it could be expensive, but not as difficult as if it had been throughout the entire interior."
