Investigators have revealed the fire which engulfed parts of Hobart’s Zero Davey hotel & apartment overnight started in the ground floor kitchen of the building.
The fire broke out around midnight on Saturday morning, with seven TFS crews racing to the scene on what was already an ‘extremely busy’ night of callouts.
TFS Deputy Regional Chief Phil Smith says the evacuation process proved challenging due to an ‘electrical issue’ in the building’s fire detection and evacuation warning system, resulting in the audible alarms malfunctioning.
“During the early stages of the incident, firefighters assisted in manually evacuating some guests, and on-site paramedics assessed individuals for any potential smoke inhalation,” he said.
The fire spread to all floors of the hotel through internal ducting, causing significant smoke and fire damage.
Eye witnesses reported seeing a lightning bolt hit the hotel around the time the fire started – and BOM records show lightning struck within 100 metres of the building around the same time.
The TFS say while the fire officially started on the ground floor, they aren’t yet ruling out the possibility it was sparked by lightning.
Smith says it’s possible the lightning struck a conductor on the roof of the building which had a flow-on effect throughout the hotel.
It’s understood the damage bill ‘is in the hundreds of thousands’.
Around 100 guests were temporarily relocated to the Hotel Grand Chancellor for the night.
Investigations are continuing into the blaze.
