December 10, 2006
Posted to the web December 11, 2006
A landmark coastal hotel in Kleinmond was gutted by fire yesterday morning, causing damage estimated at R12 million, with a further R2m loss of revenue expected over the festive season.
Managing director of the Beach House, Alan Romburgh, said the fire was believed to have been caused by a electrical fault in one of the hotel's upstairs rooms, although the exact cause would only be known once police had completed their investigations.
Yesterday, locals and tourists arrived in droves to check out the badly damaged beachfront hotel, which was originally built in 1938.
The roof of the hotel was completely destroyed by the fire and most of the top-floor bedrooms were gutted. The ground floor of the double-storey hotel was not affected by the blaze, although damage was caused by fallen rubble and water when firemen doused the blaze.
Romburgh said there were no casualties as the six guests staying in the hotel were having breakfast on the ground floor when the fire began and were evacuated immediately.
Guests lost clothes and personal belongings and one of the managers, Robert Van Gent, was taken to the clinic in Hermanus, where he was treated for smoke inhalation.
Although staff called the fire brigade within minutes of spotting smoke billowing out of the hotel's roof and windows, the blaze had already spread across all 23 of the hotel's second-floor bedrooms by the time two fire engines arrived on the scene 15 minutes later, Romburgh said.
Holidaymaker Allette Wessels said the fire brigade had to contend with strong winds that whipped up the flames as they battled to put out the blaze.
This is such a tragic and unfortunate incident, especially at this time of the year, when bookings for the next three months stood at more than 60%, said Romburgh.
A Bantry Bay couple, Albert and Connie Berman, who had booked yesterday afternoon to spend their fourth wedding anniversary at the hotel, were shocked to discover that it had been damaged by fire. We planned to enjoy the night here and we are so disappointed, they said.
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