I've witnessed a fire ravaging the hotel I was working in 2011!!!
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!
IMPORTANT NOTE
The SBD made on all my post moving forward will be used for sponsoring the forthcoming Steemit Iron Chef Contest
Have you not yet joined?
Check out @steemit-ironchef blog for more info!
Thank you!
@progressivechef
Oh it's unbelievable.. But I am glad that the hotel has stood up again, Thank you for sharing a good post from your memories....
Really unbelievable and so scary at the same time! With the renovations done, the hotel is really looking great now and is clearly one fo the most beautiful in the country!
This is so valuable.
This post recieved a vote from @minnowpond. For more information click https://steemit.com/steemit/@minnowpond/boost-your-rewards-with-minnowpond
This post recieved a vote from @minnowpond. For more information click https://steemit.com/steemit/@minnowpond/boost-your-rewards-with-minnowpond
Don't leave your pans unattended while checking steemit and this can be avoided in the future! haha
Hahaha! Absolutely well said! Well the real reason of the fire was that there was a fire in the nearby bushes, and the strong winds just carried it on the hotel roofs. At first I was also under the impression that maybe one of my staffs made some silly mistake that's why the kitchen roof went on fire!
Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by progressivechef from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews/crimsonclad, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows and creating a social network. Please find us in the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
That's so scary! Wind is the worst thing when there is a fire because it makes it spread crazy fast. We had horrible wildfires in a tourist town here last year and the wind spread the fire fast. A number of hotels burned to the ground. I'm glad no one got fired and that there was a silver lining for you at the end. It looks like a beautiful place to work.
Oh yes really very scary specially when you are witnessing it live and direct! We were seing our dream burn to ashes, but really fortunate that in the end everyone kept their jobs and were also fully paid!
It's one of the most beautiful places that i've worked, the kitchens were just amazing!
It was such a nice place, so sorry for the fire.
Oh yes it was nice before the fire but it became even more better after the renovations. Very beautiful hotel!
Woooow! That's so crazy!
So did they pay you for the entire three years it was closed - you say you didn't lose your job? Did they transfer you to another hotel?
We have just had a big fire at a hotel here, Lanzerac Wine Estate. It's one of the oldest wine farms in South Africa, I think it may be the oldest, it also had some thatch roofing, and it just burnt away! It was awful ☹️
It was really crazy as you said!
Yes infact the owners have 2 more hotels here, so most of the staffs were transfered to help there and I got the chance to go on a cross exposure training in the Maldives for 3 months then I came back to work and prepare for the re-opening while helping in one of their hotel.
I really got my full pay each and every month and everyone else also got theirs.
I will check out the one you mentioned right now.
Thanks so much for stopping by my friend!
Woah that's incredible. Lucky!
I'm glad to hear that nobody got hurt - and everyone still got paid over all 3 years, too. Those are some good photos of the damage! Amazing about the beach chairs! And congratulations on moving up to executive chef with the re-opening! I notice that the roofing material on the rebuilt hotel is not thatch!
It was really shocking to see these beach chairs catching fire one after the other! Just like in movies! The heat was so intense, i can still remember it!
Yes there is no more thatched roofs now, as after the fire no more insurance company was ready to insure a hotel with thatched roof!
These ones are fire resistant from what I heard! It's made with many different layers!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
@progressivechef
@progressivechef got you a $1.64 @minnowbooster upgoat, nice! (Image: pixabay.com)
Want a boost? Click here to read more!