Guests evacuated from Oxford hotel after ‘small’ bedroom fire

Two elderly guests were evacuated from the Randolph Hotel in Oxford last night after a small electrical fire broke out in one of its bedrooms.

Oxfordshire County Council Fire and Rescue Service were called to the bedroom fire at the property – owned by Macdonald Hotels – at 11:40pm on Wednesday, 14 December.

Two fire engines attended and crews were faced with “light smoke and a strong smell of burning percolating” from a first floor bedroom.

Two elderly residents had been moved from the bedroom by hotel staff and firefighters treated one lady for smoke inhalation. She was later handed over to the care of South Central Ambulance Service for precautionary checks.

Oxford Fire and Rescue Service praised the hotel manager for his quick actions. The service said he was alerted to the fire by the fire alarm system and quickly initiated his emergency procedure.

The fire is believed to have started inside an electrical nebuliser which had over heated.

Incident commander, watch manager Ricky Thomas, urged the public to review the condition of their portable electrical appliances in relation to any signs of damage, wear and tear and to replace them if necessary.

“Fortunately, the hotel had a fire alarm system, which alerted all persons and allowed plenty of time for emergency evacuation procedures to be put into place,” he said

A spokesperson from the Macdonald Randolph Hotel added: “The fire brigade attended a small electrical fire which was contained to one room. Some guests were evacuated to the Morse Bar within the hotel, but were soon allowed back into their rooms.

“The safety and comfort of our guests is of paramount importance to everyone at Macdonald Hotels and we would like to thank our team and the fire brigade for their swift action.”