The Penhallow Hotel was situated on Island Crescent in the surfing town of Newquay, Cornwall, United Kingdom. It was a well-known hotel for holiday makers ranging from families to older residents. The hotel was built sometime between 1912 and 1917 [1] and had been altered several times during its operation as a hotel. The building had a wooden fire escape at the rear, and a central light shaft running from the ground floor up to the roof in the centre of the hotel. Both of these aspects of the building played a dramatic role in the outcome of the fire. The Penhallow Hotel fire was reported as the worst hotel fire in the UK in nearly 40 years.[2][3]
On the night of 18 August 2007 shortly after midnight a power cut was reported followed shortly by the fire alarm activating and soon smoke was seen in the building. A 999 call was made to Cornwall Fire Brigade's fire control at 00:17 and appliances from Newquay were mobilised. Around 4 minutes later when the first crews arrived on scene it was reported that the building was well alight and further crews were requested.
Over 80 guests and members of staff managed to escape, but three people were killed and five others injured. Guest Peter Hughes (a science teacher aged 43 from Staffordshire) died as a result of falling from a second floor window. Mr Hughes' mother Monica (aged 86) also died in the blaze, along with 80-year-old Joan Harper, who was also from Staffordshire.[4]
In January 2008 police announced that the fire was being treated as suspicious, and that the deaths were now therefore potential cases of murder.[5]
|
||||||||||||||||||||