Guests evacuated in massive hotel fire

AN Almuñecar hotel had to be evacuated due to a massive fire. The flames scorched one of the halls and caused extensive damage but fortunately no human lives were lost. 

The alarm was raised at 4.15am last Friday when a call was made to the 112 emergency phone number reporting that a roaring fire had started at Hotel Carmen on Avenida Europa next to Parque El Majuelo in Almuñecar.

Three firefighters arrived on the scene to extinguish the flames, but had to call for reinforcements given the scale of the blaze. 

Local Police and the Guardia Civil were also deployed. 

Firefighters ordered hotel guests to evacuate the premises to prevent the loss of human life and battled the flames for nearly two hours. 

“We realised the fire was actually concentrated in a 300-square-metre hall, so we put it out through the windows. It took us 40 minutes to bring it under control but almost two hours to extinguish it,” one firefighter told the media.

Hotel guests were allowed to return to their rooms after the fire had been put out, though some of them had to be attended to by paramedics for smoke inhalation. 

“Fortunately, nobody was hurt and it was just a big scare,” said hotel spokesperson Manolo Campos. 

The smoke spread to the hallways and the hotel will now have to determine how much it will cost to repair the damage caused by the flames, said Campos. 

Although the exact cause of the blaze is yet to be determined, the hotel is not ruling out any possibilities. 

“It is surprising that the fire should break out on the first floor as it started in an area where there is nothing that could create a spark. One may think it was arson, but it is too soon to spectulate,” Manos commented.

Guardia Civil and municipal technicians are investigating.