“I was sleeping when I heard the alarm. I didn’t take my phone, my jacket, even my socks. I was just running all the way down”
A fire at the back of a city centre hotel sent plumes of smoke billowing into the air. The blaze broke out behind the Radisson Blu Hotel on Old Hall Street this evening, March 26.
Guests and staff at the Radisson Blu spilled onto the street as fire alarms were activated, and gathered outside as emergency services flocked to the scene. Four fire engines, police cars, numerous ambulances and rapid response vehicles, as well as two NHS Incident Response Units, attended the street at around 8.30pm.
The rear of the hotel was cordoned off as firefighters battled the blaze, which appeared to have broken out in a wheelie bin near a set of stairs.
One female Radisson Blu guest, wearing just a short-sleeved T-shirt and leggings, said: “The smoke somehow got inside and the alarms were all going off. They tried to turn it off but they couldn’t get it off, so everybody’s out here now in the cold.
“I think we’ve been out now more than an hour. I don’t know what they are doing.
“I was sleeping when I heard the alarm. I didn’t take my phone, my jacket, even my socks. I was just running all the way down.”
Other guests returned to the hotel after spending time in the city centre, only to find the street flooded with police and paramedics. One man said: “As we came around it was a bit of a shock. We could smell something burning in the air.”
Pictures taken at the scene showed flames and smoke coming from the rear of the hotel. Further pictures showed firefighters amid a number of fire-damaged wheelie bins, located behind the hotel off King Edward Street.
One end of Old Hall Street, at the junction of Leeds Street, King Edward Street and Great Howard Street, was closed off by police. Brook Street near HM Passport Office was also blocked by fire engines attending the incident.
All ambulances had left the scene by around 9.20pm. Radisson Blu guests and staff were allowed to re-enter the hotel at around 9.30pm, and Old Hall Street was reopened to traffic.
Two police cars and several fire engines remained at the scene.
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service was approached for comment.
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