Spa Mirbeau to reopen September 22

— Photo from Spa Mirbeau Hospitality Services

Throughout Spa Mirbeau, including in its resting area, shown here, guests forget that they are in a mall, and are able to “restore, refresh, and celebrate,” said Eva Sackal of Spa Mirbeau Hospitality Services.

GUILDERLAND — After closing for two weeks following a dryer fire, Spa Mirbeau is set to reopen on Saturday, Sept. 22, says Eva Sackal, director of marketing and brand identity for Spa Mirbeau Hospitality Services.

Firefighters were dispatched to the mall at about 5 a.m. on Sept. 8, said Westmere Fire Chief Anthony Carrow, and found the fire confined to one commercial dryer filled with towels that were on fire. The sprinkler above the dryer was activated, which contained the fire to that one dryer, Carrow said. He does not yet have a definitive cause of the fire, but that he expects to in the next couple of days.

No employees were in the spa at the time, he said. The mall’s fire-alarm system and sprinkler system are tied into a monitoring system, and as soon as either of those are activated, firefighters are dispatched, Carrow said.

He explained that firefighters had brought two pressure water cannons, which shoot high-velocity streams of water, and were able to immediately put out the fire.

The fire department has direct communication with mall security, and got in touch with mall management and with representatives of Spa Mirbeau, Carrow said, and both arrived on the scene.

There was some water damage in the walls of the spa and in the businesses below, as well as a “light haze of smoke” that got into the store below, said Carrow.

The fire chief emphasized that all systems worked just as they should, including the fire-alarm system, the sprinklers, and the “Knox box." The Knox box, he explained, is a rapid-entry system in which firefighters receive a coded signal that releases a key in their apparatus that can unlock a box at a business, allowing access.

Sackal said that the important thing is that no one was at the spa when the fire broke out and no one was hurt.

The company has taken these two weeks to “make sure we have the property clean and that it’s also safe to reopen,” Sackal said.

She noted that the fire happened as Spa Mirbeau was “thriving” and approaching its one-year anniversary in Crossgates. The business opened in the middle of November 2017.

Sackal added that those who have a spa membership — which include unlimited access to classes as well as discounts on treatments — were refunded or never billed for the entire month of September.

Before the fire, the spa had just launched its seasonal treatments, which will again be available, including, Sackal said, the cranberry-orange tea immersion and the honey harvest glow.

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