Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

at 20/08/2

Cornwall County Fire Brigade would like to praise the work and efforts of all the crews involved in the fire at Penhallow Hotel in Newquay on the morning of Saturday, August 18th.

Senior Divisional Officer Jan Sturges, the Incident Commander, said “The first crew which attended this incident were faced with a very severe, rapidly developing fire, with smoke issuing from all areas of the hotel and a well developed fire on the ground floor which had already spread to the roof. Many of the occupants had already evacuated the building and, at that stage, there was an indication that up to 30 persons were still unaccounted for.

“The immediate action of the crew was to call upon additional resources and to assist those people who were trapped in the hotel. The first crew began the rescue process using ladders as soon as they arrived.

The severity of the fire meant that aerial platforms would not have been of any use in rescues in this particular fire due to its rapid speed and development and the time that it would have taken to establish a local aerial appliance at the scene. The ladders available on all of the fire appliances attending the incident had the capability of reaching all floors and occupants. However the ferocity of the fire, its speed of growth and the immediate need to reach those people that had been identified to the crews arriving meant that this fire was extremely unusual by its very nature. The crews, in my opinion, did absolutely everything they could with what they were faced.

“I would like to pay tribute to members of the local community whose actions prior to the arrival of the Brigade undoubtedly resulted in lives being saved. “

“There are many questions with regard to this incident that need to be answered. However it is too early to speculate on any of these and a full investigation is being carried out by Devon and Cornwall Police and Cornwall Fire Brigade. Only when this is completed will we have the any idea on how this fire started, how it rapidly developed and whether there are any lessons to be learnt. I would ask everyone to be patient until this process is completed. “

Cornwall’s Chief Fire Officer Matt Littmoden said “This has been a devastating fire and our thoughts and sympathies must be with the families of all those who have been affected by this tragic incident. I join Jan in praising the efforts of everyone involved. ”