TULSA, Okla. — Irissa Baxter-Luper needed a place to go after her house experienced some water issues while she was away at a work conference. She and her spouse ended up checking in to the Embassy Suites Hotel Wednesday, hours before the explosion.
Baxter-Luper said she was looking forward to decompressing from the travel and stress of the water issues.
"Just came here yesterday to have a place so I can take a shower and kind of distress that’s not in the middle of them re-piping my house," said Baxter-Luper.
She and her spouse made their way downstairs to enjoy the hotel happy hour. The moment they stepped off the elevator, though, she said they could both tell something was going on.
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"There were people coming in, talking about an explosion and getting a little panicked," said Baxter-Luper. "There was one woman who was really anxious, I mean understandably, and so [we] didn’t really know what was happening, just that something had happened in the pool."
Baxter-Luper and her spouse continued on with what they were doing - they went to the bar, grabbed a drink, and started unwinding from their day. Minutes later, they were interrupted by hotel staff telling them to evacuate the building.
Hotel general manager Scott Meyer said he and his team worked as quickly as possible, following specific directives from authorities.
"We evacuated 40 guests and almost 10 employees and got them all out safely in a very quick amount of time," said Meyer. The fire department did its job, aired everything out, we took air samples, and we were safe within an hour."
Baxter-Luper said they waited outside for about an hour to an hour and a half but were grateful not to have to deal with wintery weather.
"The term explosion makes it seem so intense, and in retrospect, it feels intense, but I mean I'm okay," said Baxter-Luper. "I do think it's been a really stressful week. I'm looking forward to being able to be in my house in my own space with my pets again, but yeah, it's been exhausting, it's truly exhausting when just like you have no running water and things just keep popping up."
Although there was not a lot of communication with guests, Baxter-Luper felt comfortable with how thorough the fire department seemed to be with checking the air quality for safety. She was asked if she wanted to switch hotels but declined after all of her travel.
The specific cause of the explosion is still under investigation. Meyer said the pool will remain closed until after that is complete and will need some minor repairs.
Three people received hospital treatment during the incident. Another three signed waivers declining care.
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