SEASIDE – A chair that had been pushed against a heater caused a small fire at the Best Western Oceanview Resort on Tuesday, but quick response and the building design limited damage.

Shortly before 10:30 a.m. a manager reported smoke from room 503 of the motel, located at 414 N. Prom, Seaside Fire Marshal Chris Dugan said.

The room was unoccupied at the time, Dugan said. Damage to the room, primarily caused by smoke, was estimated at $10,000.

No one was hurt.

Considering the concrete block-form construction of the building, “the threat of flame traveling to the other rooms was minute,” Dugan added.

A chair had smoldered after it had been pushed against a heater, he said. The occupant had left earlier Tuesday.

“We think it was simply caused by a guest in the room who had relocated a large, overstuffed chair near the wall heater and cranked up the heat,” said Terry Bichsel, owner of the motel. “We do not think it was deliberate, but we don’t know that.”

Damage was confined to one room and the building performed as designed, he said.

Seaside responded with approximately 20 volunteer firefighters using an engine, an aerial ladder truck, a heavy rescue vehicle and an ambulance on standby, Dugan said. Volunteers with the Gearhart Fire Department provided backup at the Seaside fire station during the call, and guests were allowed back to their rooms within half an hour.

Fire Chief Joe Dotson commended the motel staff for the way it contacted the fire department and advised guests. “They did everything exactly as they were supposed to do, and helped us,” he said.

Guests agreed.

“They were pretty quick about getting to us and letting us know what was going on,” said Lance Cochran of Goldendale, Wash. He and his wife, Barbara, and other family members had been staying in nearby rooms and said they saw only smoke as they watched the emergency response from the parking lot.