Probe into blaze at luxury hotel project

Nov 20 2007 by Sam Wood, The Journal

THE cause of a major blaze at an historic Newcastle building, which was being transformed into a luxury hotel, is to be investigated.

Fire ripped through the Hotel Du Vin development on City Road, previously the Tyne Tees Shipping Company Building, early yesterday.

At the height of the blaze, over 30 firefighters were battling the flames, which had been spread rapidly by the strong winds.

Black smoke billowed from the building, known as Allan House, as firefighters fought to get the blaze under control. Roads around the site were closed, causing chaos for commuters. Julian Wilson, 36, who lives in flats on Mariners Wharf opposite the building and made the initial 999 call to the fire service, said: “I was woken early this morning by a terrible smell. It smelt like a big barbecue.

“I went outside to the balcony to see what was happening and there was just a huge amount of smoke billowing over the flats. I went out to have a look and flames were leaping out of the first two floors of the building.

“It was making a loud roaring noise and you could actually see the air being sucked into it from the lower floors. Two lorries had blocked the road to stop traffic.

“When I came back into the flat, I was covered in soot.

“The smell was bad and everything in the flat now smells of it.”

John Baines, group manager for Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue, said: “We received a call at about 6.40am. When we arrived, the fire was intense, having been fanned by the wind.

“The conditions made it a very difficult operation and I would like to pay a big tribute to those who have helped put out the blaze under such difficult circumstances. We eventually managed to get the fire out at about 8am.”

City Road was closed for several hours as the fire service remained to damp down the site. The road was eventually reopened at 2.50pm.

It is not believed there are any suspicious circumstances, but police confirmed that an investigation is ongoing.

The pavements in the vicinity of the fire on Mariners Wharf were yesterday covered in droplets of tar which had been deposited by the smoke.

The hotel was due to open in a matter of months.

A spokesman for the company said that could now be delayed.

The 144-year-old building had been bought by the Malmaison Group for £2m and chief executive Robert Cook, who lives in Northumberland, said at the time the group would plough £8m into the refurbishment, creating 50 to 60 jobs.

A spokesman for the hotel Du Vin chain yesterday said: “The whole thing is rather sad. A lot of hard work has gone into the refurbishment of the building.

“We will have to wait for the results of the investigation to find out how it happened.

“We are carrying out our own investigation to see how bad the damage is and how delayed the opening of the hotel may be.

“Hopefully the opening of the hotel early next year will not be affected but it could be put back by several months if the damage is bad.

“The fire brigade did an absolutely tremendous job in getting the fire out as quickly as they did, we cannot praise them highly enough.

“We will not give up on this. We will keep going with the project and get the hotel up and running.”