Today while looking in some old folders, i found some photos that brought me back to 2011, exactly the 9th of October! That was probably my worst day ever as I witnessed a huge fire consuming the hotel i was working!
It was a lovely sunny Sunday but quite windy and I was on duty! At that time I was the Executive Sous Chef of the hotel , and the occupancy was around 45%, as we just had a big group who checked out earlier!
Everything was running smoothly, when suddenly one of my sous chef called me and told me that the Beach Kitchen roof is on fire, come quickly! At first I thought he was joking, but when I lifted my head and looked up...It was the beginning of a horrific day!
The kitchen roof was on fire! All the staffs and management team tried to fight the fire, but unfortunately the fire just went everywhere and in matter of seconds, there was fire all over the hotel!
It was the Grand Mauritian A luxury collection resort and spa a 5 star hotel in the Starwood group! This is how the hotel was before the fire!
Now i will share some photos i took after the fire the next morning!
The hotel was completely thatched roof, and this made the fire moved everywhere so quickly! 75% of roofs were destroyed!
This was where the fire started, the beach restaurant! Completely reduced to ashes!
It was a hotel of 196 rooms! 60% of rooms were destroyed!
The heat of the fire was so intense that even the sun beds could not resist, would you believe this!?
We could no more recognize the reception area!
The small beach bar was also hit badly!
A closer look at the damage caused to a room!
There was no casualties, which was the only good news on that day!
The hotel remained closed for 3 years and was re-opened in September 2014 as The first Westin in Mauritius!
During the closure of the hotel , no one lost there jobs. And when it re-opened, I was appointed as Executive chef for the first time in my career!
This is the hotel now!
Experiencing a fire is the worst thing ever, and i really hope not to see a day like that again!
Please share any such incidents that you have experienced in the comments below!
Questions about anything concerning this fire and the aftermath are the most welcomed and I will be happy replying to all of them!
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