Kent Fire and Rescue: Firefighters praised after tea lights spark hotel fire

3.46.29pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 17th Aug 2009

Kent fire crews have been praised for successfully preventing a fire from spreading at a large hotel in Folkestone, minimising the damage and safely evacuating over 850 people from the building.

Firefighters from Folkestone and Hythe were sent to the Grand Burstin Hotel in Marine Parade just before 1am this morning (August 17) after a passer-by, who spotted smoke pouring from a window, alerted reception staff at the hotel.

At the scene, fire crews were confronted with a heavily smoke-logged guest room and corridor on the second floor of the eight-storey building.

They immediately sought support and at its height, five fire appliances along with 35 firefighters attended the incident.

Breathing apparatus wearers successfully tackled the fire using hydrants, jets and a Positive Pressure Ventilation (PPV) fan which drives out heat, smoke and gases, providing a flow of cool, fresh air into a building, making the scene much safer for firefighters and for anyone who may be trapped.

Elsewhere, firefighters who carried out a full search of the hotel, evacuated 816 guests - three of which had physical disabilities - and 44 staff.

Group Manager of Operations Russ Jordan, who attended the incident, said: "Fires in high-rise buildings are renowned for spreading rapidly and can be very difficult to tackle, however our fire crews worked tremendously hard at this incident, and thanks to aggressive firefighting action and a well-coordinated evacuation operation, they managed to confine the damage to the room where the fire began and managed to clear the hotel quickly and safely.

"This incident could have proved extremely hazardous, but no-one was injured and I think this is testament to the skill and professionalism of the firefighters who train regularly for this kind of scenario."

The fire started after a couple staying at the hotel, lit tea lights in their room and left them to burn unattended.

One of the tea lights, which had been left on top of a television, burnt through the set sparking the fire.

Russ said: "Unfortunately people often treat tea lights as some sort of harmless decoration but we know that they can cause damage, destruction and even death. We want to help everyone keep themselves and their loved ones save from the threat of fire, so if you have to use tea lights, please use them carefully."

Follow this simple advice when using tea lights:

• Always place the tea light in a suitable holder on a heat resistant surface

• Never place on a TV, stereo, bath or other plastic surface

• Don't let anything fall into the hot wax

• Keep tea lights well away from anything that could easily catch fire e.g. never place under a shelf

• Keep tea lights away from draughts

• Keep tea lights away from children and pets

• Never leave a tea light unattended

For more safety advice visit www.kent.fire-uk.org