A dad has told of the moment he smashed a window with a chair while his family waited for fire crews to rescue them from a burning hotel.
Andrew Logan, his wife Louise and two-year-old son Jimmy were trapped in suite 10 on the second floor of Cameron House Hotel after a blaze took hold in the morning of December 18, 2017.
Mr Logan, group operating manager with Leisure Hotels, was honeymooning at the five-star Loch Lomond hotel days after he and his wife married in Worcester.
This afternoon (Tuesday) he told a Fatal Accident Inquiry into the deaths of Simon Midgley, 32, and his partner Richard Dyson, 38, how he heard the pre-alarm sound, which he described as a “piercing noise”, before seeing a “light haze” of smoke in the room.
More than 200 guests fled the hotel after the blaze started just at around 6.30am on the Monday morning.
It started after night porter Christopher O’Malley, from Renton, emptied ash and embers from a fuel fire into a polythene bag, and then put it in a cupboard of kindling and newspapers.
Mr Logan, 46, said: “I made some remark like the chef has probably burnt the toast not appreciating what had happened.”
At first he said he thought smoke had come from the open fires but when realising the gravity of the situation, turned to his wife and said “we are not getting out”.
Mr Logan said he opened the door to a “wall of smoke”, explaining: “That point in time I was shocked, concerned, but very much I felt still in control. By not going out, I’m now moving to my work head, logical steps, we can’t get out, we can do things now to protect ourselves while the fire brigade come.”
He said the family decided to stay put and started to use sheets and pillows to try stop the smoke coming into their hotel room, while Mrs Logan called the emergency services for help.
The court were played the recording of the 999 call his paramedic wife made to tell them they “can’t get out”.
“The room is filling up with smoke,” she told them, “I have a two-year-old child. Please can you hurry up?”
In the background, coughing can be heard and Jimmy crying.
The power soon went out and Mr Logan told the inquiry: “It was like a big power switch being pulled and it was complete darkness.”
At that point he said he started to “doubt” if the decision to stay put was correct, while smoke continued to billow into their room.
He launched a chair at the window, but it bounced off. When he tried again, he managed to break through it.
The inquiry heard the couple began shouting out the window when they saw other people outside, saying: “Help, we’ve got a young child. We’re in this room.”
Mrs Logan was on the call to the emergency services for around 10 minutes before Mr Logan said he became aware of a ladder appearing outside the window.
Just moments later the family were rescued by fire crews and treated by ambulance staff outside.
Another guest giving evidence was Alan Pilkington, of Aberdeen, who recalled seeing the family being rescued from the burning building and said firefighters went straight there when they arrived.
He, along with other guests, were taken to the nearby Boat House restaurant and he told the inquiry of how he became aware those in room eight – Mr Dyson and Mr Midgley – were missing “by deduction”.
He said: “Not long after we were there somebody asked for a show of hands regarding rooms in the old part of the hotel.
“Not long later they asked for room eight but there was no show of hands.”
When asked how long this was after arriving, he said: “Within the hour. Thirty to 45 minutes.”
The 68-year-old described scenes in the Boat House as “chaotic”, with a lot of staff in there as well as hotel guests.
Another guest, Hannah Munns, told the inquiry staff were “running around” at the Boat House asking what rooms guests had been staying in.
Crown counsel Graeme Jessop asked what happened on their arrival to the restaurant, to which she replied: “It was chaos.
“A lot of people in shock. And then after about half an hour the staff were running around asking what suites we were in, what rooms we were in.”
He then asked: “Was that the first time you were asked what room you were staying in?”
The 47-year-old, from Leeds, said: “Yeah, it was quite a long time after we had got out of the hotel.”
Hotel operator Cameron House Resort (Loch Lomond) Ltd was previously fined £500,000, and night porter Christopher O’Malley, of Renton, was given a community payback order over the fire.
The hotel firm admitted failing to take the necessary fire safety measures to ensure the safety of its guests and employees between January 14 2016 and December 18 2017.
The company admitted two charges of breaching the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005. O’Malley admitted breaching sections of health and safety laws which relate to the obligation on an employee to take reasonable care for the health and safety of people affected by their acts or omissions at work.
The inquiry, in front of Sheriff Thomas McCartney, continues at Paisley Sheriff Court.
