FIREFIGHTERS from Saldanha Bay and other surrounding municipalities have managed to contain the flames that ate Shelly Point Hotel and Spa, a five-star hotel in St Helena Bay, Western Cape.
Unfortunately, the grass-thatched hotel had already been destroyed by the flames. The fire started earlier on Tuesday, 2 January and was contained by noon. It's still unclear what caused it.
Emergency workers and Saldanha Bay Mayor Andre Truter had been on the scene since morning.
“A fire started just before 7am this morning in one of the kitchen buildings. The fire was contained for a short while. At this time all guests and staff were evacuated. There were no injuries or fatalities, thankfully!" said Truter.
“Fire crews from Saldanha Bay Municipality, West Coast District Municipality Swartland Municipality and Bergrivier Municipality are on site and keeping the fire from spreading to surrounding houses,” said Trutter.
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He said Western Cape disaster management assisted immediately by dispatching a spotter plane and two helicopters.
“Myself and the municipal manager, Heinrich Mettler and MMC Michael Schaffers have been on site since early. Fire chief Basil January is on-site and running operations."
An employee from the hotel who spoke to SunTeam said she was inside the hotel when she heard the fire siren and rushed to the assembly point.
“At first I thought it was just a fire drill but when I came out of the hotel, the hotel was on fire and a lot of people were running for their lives,” she said.
She said she was worried about her job since the hotel had been razed to the ground.
