Plymouth hotel evacuated after leisure area blaze

Over 200 guests staying at the Holiday Inn in the city centre of Plymouth had to be evacuated recently following a fire which began in the hotel.

All the guests managed to escape safely and it was confirmed that nobody had been injured in the fire, which originated from the second floor, with the automatic alarm sounding shortly after 12am.

At the height of the blaze 85 firefighters from Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service were on hand to try and keep it under control. The fire crews managed to contain the fire in the leisure area, which contains a swimming pool, and they prevented it from spreading to the rest of the building.

The main damage to the building was in a conference room where the ceiling had fallen in.

Due to the hotel fire, the guests were taken to other hotels in the vicinity, while a number of roads in the area were closed.

Group Commander Paul Bray, speaking to BBC News, said:

“All the guests have been safely evacuated although some didn’t leave at the time of the alarm.

“They had to be woken by fire crews; as part of the search they found them in their rooms asleep.

“Thankfully, fire precautions built into the hotel stopped the fire from spreading into the residential area.”