Hotel collapses in huge fire
A hotel on the Isle of Wight has collapsed after a huge fire broke out during a wedding reception on the evening of 17th March.
50 firefighters from 6 crews attended the incident at The Ryde Castle Hotel, in Ryde, at around 10pm and were still at the scene on Sunday morning.
Chief fire officer Steve Apter said: “[They] were faced with quite a serious fire in the roof and the upper floors in the middle part of the building. Firefighters were withdrawn from the building just before the collapse. The problem is it’s an old building of old construction so access was particularly difficult for crews. We managed to bring the fire under control and stop it from spreading any further. There was, unfortunately, a wedding party taking place in the hotel at the time so they were evacuated very swiftly with the management of the hotel. Everybody was out of the building when firefighters arrived on scene. We have had a collapsed middle part of the building so obviously very dangerous and difficult conditions for firefighters to be working in but thankfully no injuries.”
The historic castle is thought to have been built for Henry VIII in about 1540 to defend the Spithead, Southampton Water and the Solent from the invasion by the Spanish Armada.
It is thought that the fire may have been started by a stray firework during a display at the wedding reception.