Boston hotel closed for “foreseeable future” after fire destroys nearby building

The Quayside Hotel & Bar in Boston will be closed for the “foreseeable future” after 40 guests were evacuated due to a fire at a nearby derelict building.

Fire crews worked through the night to put out an inferno that destroyed a five-storey building on London Road in Boston.

Nobody was injured, but fire investigators cannot be sent inside the building until it is safe.

At the height of the incident there were seven appliances, two aerial ladder platforms, and a high volume pump at the scene.

Road closures remained in place on London Road on Tuesday afternoon. Highways told police that the High Street closure will move to Oxford Street to where the petrol station is.

Nathan Bryant, Marketing and Technical Manager at the hotel, told The Lincolnite: “Last night (Monday, January 30), we had a full hotel, so 40 guests were evacuated into another nearby hotel in our group – the Stanley Hotel – and they were accommodated there.

“We initially closed as a precaution and we carried out the evacuation at the request of the fire service. There were concerns over the structure of the derelict building and the risk of the spread of the fire.

“The hotel will be closed for the foreseeable future, and without electricity caused a significant loss of stock including fresh food.

“We are in the fortunate position that we have other hotels in the group that we can relocate guests to and we have not had to do any cancellations. Our central office has contacted all guests and we are working hard to relocate them over the coming days.”

He added: “It is a waiting game. The closure will be short-term (pending the outcome of any assessments inside the building). There is a loss of stock and smoke did get into the building, so once we are allowed back in we can assess any damage and financial implications from there.

“If it wasn’t for the hard work of the fire service, we are confident our building would have suffered the same fate. Their quick actions and response, and teamwork, managed to contain the fire in challenging conditions.”

He added that the kitchen staff are now off work until the hotel is able to reopen.

Investigations continue into the cause of a fire and Matt King, Divisional Commander for the East Division at Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue, told The Lincolnite that some crews were still in attendance and dampening down and would remain at the scene for most of the day.

He said: “We arrived shortly before 4pm to a derelict industrial building on London Road in Boston. At that time the upper two floors of the five storey building were well alight and the fire quickly spread to the rest of the building.

“Recognising at that point the building was lost, the priority was to protect the surrounding buildings – a hotel on one side and a domestic property on the other. The evacuation was done by police early on.

“At the height of the fire, we had some additional risks and challenges. A petrol station just opposite which we were concerned about, so the pumps were shut off and the petrol station was closed temporarily.

“We also had embers from the fire travelling towards the port of Boston so we deployed an additional crew, who were standing by in case of any secondary fires.

“The railway line further down the line was a concern. It is freight rail, and we were able to manage that with freight trains stopped travelling until it was safe to resume.

“A building inspector has been this morning and will decide whether it is safe and if the cordon can be reduced or removed, so we’ll be staying at the scene for most of the day.”

When asked about the cause of the fire, he added: “An investigation is ongoing to establish what the cause was. Because the structure of the building is so unsafe we can’t commit fire investigators inside the building until then.

“We recognise that this is the second large building fire on London Road in the last six months. Whilst we don’t have a cause for this one just yet, we don’t think the two are linked in anyway.

“We recognise there will be concerns among the local community so, just as we were last time, once a cause is established we will be out in the community giving reassurance and fire safety advice.”

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