A Surfers Paradise hotel with more than 400 guests was evacuated early on Friday morning after two fires broke out.
Six fire crews responded to the blaze at the Hilton hotel, with the first crew arriving just after 2am, a spokesperson for the Queensland Fire Department said.
On their arrival they found a fire on the roof, with material on fire falling from the roof resulting in the second fire on the hotel’s lower level.
Fire crews were able extinguish the blaze just after 2.30am.
The spokesperson said fire investigators were not required to attend and the investigation was in the hands of Hilton hotel building management.
A Surfers Paradise resident, Ralph Kogler, was woken by a loud bang at 2am on Friday and ran to the window to see the roof of the hotel alight.
“Exploding fragments landed on at least 10 different ledges down the building, making the first impression quite unbelievable, it looked like the whole side of the building was alight,” Kogler said.
He said burning debris had landed on a restaurant on the lower levels of the hotel, and that coffee shop tables and even an umbrella had caught fire.
“At the peak, the glow from all levels of fire was huge, making us fear our own evacuation,” he said.
A Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Shane Dye, who lives in a residence in one of the Hilton towers adjacent to the one that caught fire, said he had been working in his lounge when he saw the inferno.
“I am only 30 metres away from the tower that was on fire and my window directly faces it,” he told Racenet. “Everything was on fire and in flames, I couldn’t believe it.”
He said there had initially been confusion after the evacuation.
“The bloke at the desk didn’t know, he had no idea. Then some people came running in and said everything was on fire and things were falling on the ground and we had to get out.”
No one required medical treatment and all guests were able to return to their rooms after the blaze was extinguished.
Police believe the fire was not suspicious but further investigations are under way.
Australian Associated Press contributed to this report
