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Eastbourne’s Grade II* Claremont Hotel has been severely damaged by fire.<\/h3>\nEastbourne’s Grade II* Claremont Hotel has been severely damaged by fire.<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
The BBC writes:<\/p>\n
A Victorian seafront hotel has been “engulfed in flames” after a fire broke out in its basement.<\/p>\n
Eastbourne’s Grade II* listed Claremont Hotel was evacuated after the blaze started at about 08:50 GMT. The Pier Hotel has also been evacuated.<\/p>\n
About 60 firefighters and 12 engines were sent to the scene.<\/p>\n
Six people have been treated for minor injuries, with one taken to hospital suffering from breathing difficulties, the ambulance service said.<\/p>\n
All those who were in the hotel when the fire started have been accounted for, East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said.<\/p>\n
Nearby residents have been advised to keep windows and doors closed. Roads in the area have been shut.<\/p>\n
Flames spread from the basement of the Claremont and could be seen coming out of windows and the roof.<\/p>\n
Significant damage<\/strong> He said the fire had been brought under control and the fire service was “scaling back the operation”.<\/p>\n The owners of the hotel, Daish’s Holidays, said the “significant damage” to the hotel was “devastating”.<\/p>\n The company said 130 guests and staff members had been in the building when the fire broke out…..<\/p>\n Simon Palmer, who works at the neighbouring Pier Hotel, said the Claremont was “engulfed in flames” and added the fire had “taken three-quarters of the roof away already”…..<\/p>\n \u2026 The seafront will remain closed while structural engineers carry out investigations on the site, a council spokesman said.<\/p>\n The 72-bed hotel forms part of Eastbourne’s Grand Parade on the town’s seafront, close to the pier which was devastated by a fire in 2014.<\/p>\n The building, now comprising the Burlington Hotel and the Claremont Hotel, was constructed between 1851 and 1855 and given a Grade II* listing in 1949.<\/p>\n
\n“The building has been seriously damaged and will need to be examined by building experts before a decision is made about its future,” a fire service spokesman said.<\/p>\n