Hot sheets blamed for laundry firm fire

A sprinkler system has saved a laundry business after hot sheets pulled from a dryer are believed to have spontaneously combusted.

It was one of two fires in Christchurch overnight extinguished by automatic sprinkler systems.

Addington station officer Brian Reid said crews were called about 1.10am on Wednesday to Canterbury Linen Services in Hillmorton, which supplies the Canterbury District Health Board.

Reid suspected the fire may have been caused by sheets that had recently been pulled from the dryer and piled into bins. The sheets were likely to have spontaneously combusted, causing the localised fire inside the building.

"The damage was confined basically to three to four bins that were stacked together around the one that caught fire, but the sprinkler held it there until we arrived and sorted it out," he said.

Reid understood the business would continue to operate.

Earlier, Christchurch central crews were called to the abandoned All Seasons Hotel in Merivale.

The Papanui Rd building was left empty since the 2011 earthquakes and dubbed a "cesspit for squatters" by one city councillor..

A Fire Service spokesman said a fire, deemed suspicious, on the fourth floor was extinguished by a sprinkler system before firefighters arrived.

Fire investigators were expected to arrive at the scene on Wednesday, he said.

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Hot sheets blamed for laundry firm fire