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Fire at five-star luxury hotel in New Delhi

     New Delhi: A major fire broke at a five-star luxury hotel in the city on Saturday. The fire broke out at around 12.50 pm in the kitchen area on the ground floor of the 'The Grand' at Vasant Kunj. Fire was brought under control by evening. There were no reports of any casualties. The hotel was evacuated immediately after the fire broke out. There are no reports of guests or staff members trapped inside the hotel. The hotel authorities have made alternative arrangements for their guests. "There was a major fire and it is under control now. There is no threat to the lives of the guests or the staff. Everybody has been secured. The health and safety of our guest is of paramount importance to the Grand New Delhi. So, we have made it our priority and we will be relocating our guests to alternative accommodation," said Roy McShane, General Manager, The Grand Hotel. "Our staff and employees are being sent home until further notice. As you can see there is extensive smoke but it is being contained by the fire brigade," said McShane. The staff members of the hotel tried to control the fire but were not able to do so as the smoke was billowing high. Initially, five fire tenders were sent to control the fire but the blaze became uncontrollable. 40 fire tenders worked together to control the fire. "Firstly we had sent five fire brigades and a radio in charge but smoke was blazing high in the basement and there was some problem at the fire location also," said Ashish Sharma, a fire official. "The fire started in the kitchen at the basement of the restaurant. Initially, these people must have tried to douse the blaze but then it went beyond their control. Immediately, a message was flashed to the fire service. The situation was serious so we sent 40 fire brigades," added Sharma.
-January 26,  2008