A FIRE which led to the evacuation of a hotel in Sandbanks saw flames travel between the first and second floor.
A member of hotel staff was also led to safety during the incident at the Haven Hotel on Saturday morning.
At the height of the fire there were 10 appliances in attendance.
Group manager at Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue, Charlie Pack said: "At approximately 8.45 this morning we received reports of a fire at the Haven Hotel.
“Pumps from Westbourne and Poole were mobilised initially to find a fire that had developed between the first and the second floor.
“Staff at the hotel were really on the ball with evacuation and all persons had been evacuated from the building with the exception of one member of staff which fire service crews found and led to safety.”
The fire which broke out in a first-floor bedroom, has now been extinguished. All the guests at the hotel have been accounted for and there were no casualties.
Mr Pack said: “The fire was actually found to be travelling between the first and second floor up into the loft space via a wall void, so crews will remain in attendance for a number of hours to check for hot spots and damping down to ensure it doesn’t reignite.
“There were no injuries and we've just liaised with the Environment Agency to inform them of any potential run off.”
Picture by Amelia Royston
Crews will remain on site for the next few hours while the cause of the fire is being investigated.
A guest at the hotel, Amelia Royston from Wiltshire, said: “We were just getting up for breakfast at about eight o’clock and the alarms went off.
“So, we all went down into the car park and we ended up being there a lot longer because about 13 fire engines turned up in the end and pumped the water into the centre of the building.
“We weren’t allowed back in until 11.30am.
"We’ve got two kids with us and we were up on the top floor, my little one was a bit anxious about it but actually it turned out alright.
“The staff were excellent with the evacuation and I think the fact that nobody’s hurt is testament to them really.”
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