A fire broke out at Hotel Highland in Thampanoor, Thiruvananthapuram, on Friday evening, prompting a large-scale emergency response. Fire and Rescue Services personnel rushed to the spot and brought the blaze under control.
The timely evacuation of guests ensured that no injuries were reported.
According to Fire and Rescue Services officials, the fire was reported at around 5.15 pm, following which three fire tenders from the Thiruvananthapuram Fire Station were dispatched to the hotel. The firefighting operation lasted for about an hour, and the blaze was brought under control by 6 pm. “There were guests staying at the hotel. So we had to evacuate them first. Only then did we begin the firefighting operation,” an official at the Thiruvananthapuram Fire Station told Onmanorama.
He said the fire originated in the restaurant chimney on the hotel’s ground floor, following which thick smoke engulfed several floors of the building. “The fire started in the chimney, where carbon deposits had accumulated as it was not cleaned often. The deposits caught fire after being exposed to a spark, producing a large volume of smoke,” the official said.
“The smoke spread rapidly through the building because it is centrally air-conditioned and most of its windows are fixed and cannot be opened. As a result, there was very little ventilation,” he added.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze in the chimney using water, while blowers were used to clear the smoke from the building, the official said. He added that the fire was confined to the chimney, while the smoke posed the greatest challenge during the operation.
The guests, mostly Malayali families who had arrived from other parts of the state, had rushed out of their rooms without taking their belongings. “The fire alarm had not sounded and so we had no idea that fire had broke out. Then there was frantic knocking on the doors, and we saw people running everywhere, asking guests to rush out. They told us not to wait to pick up our things,” one of the guests said.
A hotel employee said that the quick response had limited the damage to a minimum.
The incident triggered panic in the busy city centre, as the hotel is located in Thampanoor, close to several commercial establishments, the KSRTC bus terminal and Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station.
