A man was air-lifted by a Mercy Meidcal Center helicopter in Des Moines to receive medical treatment after he was burned Wednesday in an accident at the Hotel at Gateway Center.

The accident was a result of improper maintenance techniques, said Dan Withrow, hotel general manager. The burned man, whose name was not released, was a member of a cleaning crew.

Around 11:15 p.m. Wednesday, Ames firefighters responded to a fire reported in the kitchen area of the hotel, located at the intersection of U.S. Highway 30 and Elwood Drive.

“The fire was already extinguished when crews arrived,” said Paul Sandoval, deputy fire chief of the Ames Fire Department. “The fire activated the hotel’s hood system, which put out the fire right away.”

Withrow said the accident did not cause any serious property damage.

“There was not a fire in the sense that things were burned or there was any damage done to the hotel,” he said. “This was just a very unfortunate accident.”

A crew from Des Moines-based All Clean of Iowa had unplugged a gas line in the kitchen without shutting off the gas when it was cleaning the kitchen as a part of regular maintenance, Withrow said.

Kitchen ovens attached to fume hoods are often moved from the kitchen area to be cleaned, said Wesley Nielsen, a professional designer and distributor of commercial kitchen supplies and employee of Becker Equipment Co. of Des Moines.

“Pulling out the equipment can easily break gas hoses if not done correctly,” Nielsen said.

He said a flame came out of the gas line and burned a young employee, who was air-lifted from Des Moines and is receiving treatment for his injuries.

Information about the man could not be obtained from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics because of privacy considerations.

The flame immediately set off the hotel kitchen’s fire-suppression system, covering the kitchen with a thick gel that immediately snuffs out flames, Withrow said.

“Our system worked perfectly,” he said. “That’s why anything worse was prevented from happening.”

The kitchen reopened Thursday evening for dinner.

“There was no damage done at all, this was more of an inconvenience than anything else,” Withrow said.

He said he had members of his staff clean up the kitchen, and will have the city health inspector make sure the kitchen is safe for food preparation. Withrow said he will not seek damages from the cleaning company and does not blame the injured man for the accident.

“He didn’t do anything wrong, this was just a very unfortunate accident for this young man,” he said. “They always do a very good job.”