A fire broke out in a storage walkway at the New Day Spa in West Sedona at Willow Way and State Route 89A around 10:45 p.m., Thursday, June 17, according to Gary Johnson, Sedona Fire District deputy fire marshal and public information officer.

The fire was extinguished within a few minutes of the firefighters’ arrival, according to SFD Battalion Chief Bill Maxwell.

SFD firefighters entered a nearby business to check for fire as both businesses share a common ventilation system and smoke was escaping through the neighboring business’s exhaust vents, Maxwell said.

The neighboring business suffered some smoke damage, Johnson said, but the fire was confined to the spa’s storage walkway, a space between two formerly external walls enclosed in a recent renovation.

The walls on either side are cinder block, which likely prevented the fire from spreading any further than the storage walkway space, he said.

While the investigation is not yet complete, Johnson said the fire began in a pile of recently laundered towels in the New Day Spa’s laundry area. Oil used at the spa remained as residue on the towels, which were probably not properly folded, Johnson said.

The towels’ heat ignited the oil and sparked the fire. This type of fire is rare but not uncommon in commercial laundries, he said.

Johnson said he has no estimate on the fire damage, but the smoke damage to the spa was extensive. The neighboring business suffered some damage, but was able to open the next morning.