Man rushed his kids to safety as fire starts in Fontwell hotel
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Chris Heal, from Portsmouth, was woken up just after midnight this morning to the sound of a fire alarm and people shouting. He was staying at Fontwell Travelodge and, realising what was happening, said he and his little girls had to escape the building as soon as possible.
"I’m on holiday with my two young daughters,” he explained. “So, when I came to, I just grabbed anything and everything I could, wrapped the girls up in their duvets, grabbed my shoes and coat, and legged it out of the hotel. It was all a bit chaotic.
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Hide Ad"A member of staff from the Travelodge got us outside and took some kind of register and checked everyone got out of their hotel rooms safely, and then, within about fifteen minutes, the first fire engine turned up.”
One fire engine was called to the blaze at 12.26am and, seeing the volume of smoke emerging from the hotel, soon requested further assistance. As the situation developed, several fire engines from Bognor Regis, Arundel, Chichester and Littlehampton, arrived on the scene.
Fortunately, most of the guests were safely evacuated, and firefighters rescued one guest who, unaccounted for, was stuck inside the building. Shortly after, they were checked over by paramedics from the South East Coast Ambulance Service.
Even so, Mr Heal said the experience was nothing short of ‘traumatic’: “The fire brigade let us back into the room at about 2pm, they were obviously happy everything was safe. But it was all quite traumatic, especially in the middle of the night, when you’re in a deep sleep and you’re woken up by a really loud fire alarm, and all these people shouting ‘get out! get out!’ in the corridors.
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Hide Ad"Thankfully, we’re back in resort today at Butlin’s and everything’s fine. My two daughters weren’t too scared by it all, but I’ve explained to them the dangers of fire and hopefully it’s taught them a valuable lesson about how serious things can happen when you least expect it.