An employee at the Perth hotel where three people died in a fire has told how he helped evacuate residents after the blaze erupted in the room next door.
The staff member at the New County Hotel, who has not been named, phoned 999 after opening his door and being “hit” with smoke just before 5am yesterday. He said about 15 guests were evacuated from the building.
Police have confirmed that three people and a dog died, while 11 people were treated for injuries at the scene but did not need to go to hospital. Hotel guests and two people from a neighbouring flat had to be evacuated.
Emergency crews arrived at the scene in seven minutes in 21 ambulances. At the peak of the blaze nine fire appliances and more than 60 firefighters attended as well as the Tayside trauma team. A joint investigation by Tayside police and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is under way.
The employee, who works on maintenance and reception, had arrived at about 7pm on Sunday for an overnight shift. He said: “I was the one who phoned the fire brigade because I’m the fire marshal at the hotel. It was the second floor the fire started; there were about 15 people evacuated from the hotel. I knew straight away there was a fire because it was actually next to the room I was in. As soon as I came out my of door I was hit with smoke.”
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The employee said the hotel’s fire alarm often went off “easily” but that it was normally a false alarm.” He added: “Obviously this time it was serious. I tried to evacuate the guests as much as I could; obviously there was a lot of smoke so I could only do so much.”
A guest who gave her name as Barbara said that people staying on the second floor were “in a particularly bad way”. She escaped with her husband from a room directly above the fire and said. She said: “We woke to the sounds of the alarms going off and just ran, we left everything we have in the room. As we reached the front door you could see burning embers falling to the ground. We ran through as quickly as we could, hoping nothing would fall on us. Really we’re lucky to get out alive.
“Once we were out on the street you could see how bad it was. We watched as people were carried out on stretchers and treated; the people on the second floor were in a particularly bad way.”
The New County Hotel is less than two miles from the historic attraction Scone Palace, a Gothic Revival style house. The hotel had 23 bedrooms when it went on the market in 2015.
Housing teams at Perth & Kinross council confirmed that no asylum seekers, refugees or temporary homeless residents were being housed there.
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Chris Ahern, councillor for Perth city centre, told The Times that he was horrified by the blaze and questioned why the victims were unable to flee the hotel.
He said: “I’m hoping the police and the fire brigade, who have got the area cordoned off and are doing an investigation into what caused it and equally on top of that: why they perished; why they couldn’t get out of the hotel.
“Hotel safety standards are supposed to be quite high, there’s supposed to be good fire exits. We have to understand why three people didn’t get out in time.”
Jason Sharp, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service area commander for Perth, Kinross, Angus and Dundee, said: “Our thoughts are very much with the immediate family and friends at this difficult time. Our firefighters worked extremely hard in a very complex and challenging environment to prevent the further spread of fire and damage.”
Chief Superintendent Phil Davison of Police Scotland said: “I would like to thank the police officers, fire officers and ambulance personnel that responded to this incident for their professionalism in response and to our partner agencies for the support that is being provided. I would ask for patience from the local community as local roads may remain closed for some time.”
