Fire destroys fourth floor of town centre hotel

Fire chiefs said last night that the fire, which broke out at 12.30am, had destroyed the fourth floor of the 86-bed hotel and the roof.

At its height, flames were shooting through the roof of the building and a huge plume of smoke engulfed the town centre by 2am.

A police helicopter circulated overhead directing the fire teams on turntable ladders and large parts of the town centre were cordoned off.

Sixty three people were evacuated including guests from China and Canada. Two people had to be rescued by the fire brigade. Their condition is not yet known but they are not thought to be seriously injured.

Guests have been moved to the Dolphin Centre sports complex.

Another hotel, the Blackwell Grange, has agreed to take as many evacuees as it can.

Fire teams from Darlington, County Durham and North Yorkshire fought the blaze.

Part of a bridge was dismantled, allowing fire teams to pump thousands of gallons from the River Skerne which runs through the town centre.

Mike Dixon, head of operations for County Durham and Darlington fire brigade, said the roof of the recently refurbished building, in Priestgate, had collapsed.

He said: " We are fighting the fire internally and externally. There are two turntable ladders spraying water down on the building and ten appliances."

A helicopter is helping direct the operation from above the blazing building.

Mr Dixon added: "Our main aim is to stop the fire spreading to the Cornmill shopping centre."

"Crowds of people have massed watching the drama unfold," said The Northern Echo's Andrew White from the scene.

"It appears to have been ablaze for some time."

Guests have been given temporary accommodation at the Dolphin Centre sports complex by Darlington Council which implemented a disaster emergency plan.

Scot Donald, 39, who is staying at the hotel, said: "The alarm went off at 12.30am. At first we thought it was a false alarm, as we had a drill last night. Then we realised it was for real."

Eye witness Michael Harrison, of Newton Aycliffe, said: "When we came out of the pub all we could see was smoke coming out of the roof and within a matter of minutes flames were coming out. There was loads of people coming out of the hotel but it didn't look like anyone was seriously injured. The fire brigade were already here when we came out but more and more engines kept coming."

Kelly Reynolds, of Darlington, added: "We couldn't believe what we were seeing. The flames could been seen from miles away - it looked like the whole town centre was on fire. The smoke and flames seemed to fill the sky."

Tony Barker, of Darlington, said: "There were loads of firefighters running around when I got here, it seemed like it was going to take a lot of them to bring it under control. At one point it looked like they had put it out but the flames just started shooting out of the roof again."

Rebecca Jones, of Darlington, said: "I couldn't believe what I was seeing, there was people everywhere just stood around watching what was going on. A lot of the people who had come out of the hotel looked quite frightened, many of them seemed to be from China or Japan, they didn't really know what was going on. The police managed to move them to safety quite quickly."

Tony Grufferty, manager at Durham fire station, said shortly before 6am: "The crews are now winding down and we believe that between 50 per cent and 75 per cent of the hotel is still usable.

"The fourth floor and the roof have gone."

He confirmed that 64 fire fighters had been involved in the operation with 13 appliances and two aerial platforms and that there had been no casualties.

"We have been successful in preventing the fire spreading to commercial premises, and we are now winding down operations.

"There was an issue with water, and we had to pump extra supplies from the river Skerne."

He warned that this may lead to some temporary discolouring of domestic supplies.

He added: "We are now liasing with the utilities, the police and the council, with a view to containing the area, but to get as much of the town centre open as possible.

"We can now start moving into the building to salvage as much as possible and assess hazards. The investigation into the cause will also begin. It's too early to say what has happened, but it looks like it started on the fourth floor."

Darlington town centre is expecting thousands of visitors today due to the opening of a four-day Market Spectacular, which has more than 300 market stalls displaying wares.

Originally a coaching inn in 1611, the Kings Hotel was rebuilt in 1893 and has recently undergone refurbishment.

The three star hotel boasted a majestic ballroom that can cater for up to 250 guests, 6 conference rooms, the Northgate Restaurant, a Cocktail Bar and a lounge on the ground floor.

Only last month it changed its name from the King's Head Hotel to the King's Hotel.

It is not the first time a fire has struck at the hotel. In April 1990 nearly 100 elderly guests fled the building in their night-gowns.

The fire broke out in the old downstairs bar of the hotel. All 91 guests, most of them from West Scotland ,and three live-in staff were accounted for.

in 1990, eleven people were taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation.