Guests and staff safe following Mandarin Oriental blaze

by XPRESS, 07 June 2018

London Ambulance Service has reported no injuries in the blaze that broke out at the newly renovated 189-bedroom, five-red-AA-star hotel on William Street at 3:55pm.

Some 120 firefighters were called to the tackle the fire.

The hotel had unveiled a £85m renovation of the property only last week.

A large plume of smoke rising from the building could be seen for miles around as 36 hotel guests and 250 hotel staff were evacuated. The fire was eventually brought under control at 9:51pm.

The fire is believed to have spread across a vertical facade for plants and vegetation and into several floors of the hotel but was quickly extinguished.

Mandarin Oriental released a statement in the early hours of this morning which said: “Today’s unfortunate fire at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London has been extinguished. The fire did not extend to the Residences at One Hyde Park.

“To the best of our knowledge, all Mandarin Oriental guests have been accounted for and we are contacting guests who were not in the hotel at the time. All colleagues are safe and accounted for. Hotel guests are being accommodated at other hotels in the vicinity. We would like to express our appreciation to everyone who has conveyed their concern about this sad incident.

“It is too early at the present stage to assess the full extent of the damage. A full investigation is underway and will take time to complete.”

Nearby hotels, including the Capital, offered support to Mandarin Oriental guests and staff, including delivering bottles of water to those in the park.

London Fire Brigade station manager Pam Oparaocha was at the scene yesterday. She said: “Firefighters worked extremely hard in exceptionally hot conditions to bring the fire under control. Crews wearing breathing apparatus carried out search and rescue operations throughout the inside of the building.

“Firefighters are likely to be there throughout the night and, once the fire has been brought under control, fire investigators will take over to establish how the blaze started.”

Fire crews from Chelsea, Kensington, Hammersmith, Battersea and other surrounding fire stations were at the scene. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Article credit: The Caterer