The cause of the April 30 fire at the Red Jacket Resort in North Conway has been ruled as "undetermined" by the state fire marshal.

The fire destroyed 75 rooms in the south wing of the resort, displaced 155 guests, and required two dozen fire companies to knock down the flames. The building itself was demolished right after the fire, and the resort has been closed since.

"An undetermined cause classification means that the cause of the fire could not be proven to an acceptable level of certainty. However, there was no evidence or information that led investigators to believe that a crime had been committed," State Fire Marshal Sean P. Toomey said in a statement.

Aerial view of the Red Jacket Inn after a fire
Aerial view of the Red Jacket Inn after a fire (Conway Embroidery)
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Toomey also addressed questions about the fire protections in the hotel.

Guest rooms were wired with local, hardwired smoke alarms with battery backup. They were designed to sound only in the individual guest rooms once activated. The heat detector would set off the building fire alarm system once it was activated.

The main hallways of the hotel were equipped with fire alarm system smoke detectors and alarm notification devices such as horns and strobes.

The entire south wing did not have a complete automatic sprinkler system. A system was not required by New Hampshire for non-high rise buildings until 1991.

The resort, which includes the Kahuna Laguna indoor water park, has canceled all reservations through Sept. 5, according to a message on its website.

South wing of the Red Jacket main building after a fire 4/30/22
South wing of the Red Jacket main building after a fire 4/30/22 (Lakes Region Mutual Fire Aid)
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Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNH

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