A family has described its horror after the guest house which they have run for decades went up in flames on Sunday (May 14), leaving them with nowhere to stay. The say they were then forced to sleep on a takeaway shop's floor despite them all being over 60.
Police and the fire service were called out to the Alpha Guest House on Coronation Road in Southville on Sunday afternoon. Two fires broke out, and the fire service had to return to the guest house after they allegedly told people inside it that the first fire had been dealt with and left.
The blazes are now being treated as arsons, and police have urged anyone with information to come forward. One man was arrested on Sunday but has been released without charge.
Read more: We The Curious to be closed 'for a few months' after birds cause huge blaze
The family who run and live in the hotel say that following the second fire, they were told they could not re-enter the building but were not offered any emergency accommodation by the council or the police, despite some members of the family being elderly. Sam Sim, whose parents have run the guest house for 30 years, says that the first fire started at around 2.15pm in a top floor bathroom.
The 21-year-old, his aunt and another customer tried to put the fire out with a fire extinguisher, but the smoke was "choking" them and eventually the fire service arrived and took over. After some time, the firefighters left the building and told Sam, his family and the customers that they could re-enter the building.
Sam says that around 20 minutes after the fire broke out, his aunt began screaming that another fire had broken out after she went out to the back garden and saw smoke again. Sam says that at this point he saw "black smoke just billowing out from not only one side of the building, but also the other side of the building as well, but there was no fire in between which was really strange to me."
He said that inside the hotel, there was "black smoke just billowing down for the stairs, you (couldn't) see anything." And he added: "I'm just thinking, why haven't they put the fire out properly, how is it even possible for them to hose down an entire room, tell us it's safe and then a fire reignites in the exact same room not even an hour later."
According to the official fire service statement, they were called to deal with the second fire at 4.43pm, and a fire and crime scene investigation is now underway.
But Sam said: "What if my aunt didn't go back out, what else could have happened. Two or three customers went back up to the top floor. I dread to imagine but the worst could have happened."
According to Sam and a guest who was at the Alpha Guest House when the second fire broke out, the flames came from the same bathroom on both occasions. The guest, who asked to be referred to by only his first name Charles, said he saw flames which were two feet high coming from underneath a shower tray in the bathroom.
However, Dave Pike, area manager at Avon Fire and Rescue Service, said that an investigation into the fire is ongoing. "We're working closely with the police and everything else, so in the fact that there were two fires in close proximity, without me going down there and speaking to the fire investigator, they could have been in two completely different places in the building.
"They might be completely unrelated but they might also be related and that's part of the fire investigation, so it's too early to say what the actual cause of it was."
Following the second fire, Sam and his family were told they could not go back into the building due to structural damage, and the building remained cordoned off on Monday. Sam says that they were offered no emergency accommodation by police or by the council, even after his 85-year-old father was found passed out near the guest house following the fire.
They claim they were told by police that they should book a hotel room, while the council allegedly told them they would have to go on a waiting list, which could take weeks. On the day of the fire, Sam and his sister Fiona, who lives in London, spent hours calling around to friends and family in search of a roof over their heads.
But it was not until after midnight that they were finally able to make arrangements, with their aunt having to sleep on a takeaway floor, and their parents almost spent the night in the same place before they eventually found a friend's place to stay at, while Sam stayed with a friend of his. And Fiona says that it is unfair that her family, including her 65-year-old mother, who has mobility problems, and her elderly father were allegedly not considered a priority by the council.
"I was livid, I was absolutely livid. How are you putting someone who can barely walk on the floor, how can you let vulnerable people who have clearly gone through a lot of trauma just go like that and leave them to god knows where. They could have been out on the streets."
The family later tweeted: "Elderly disabled parents were left to sleep on the grease-laden floor of a takeaway. Alternative accommodation was NOT found. SHAME ON @BristolCouncil."
Sam and his family have still not found anywhere to stay on a long-term basis. A Bristol City Council Spokesperson said: “In this situation the Emergency Duty Team (EDT) were contacted on Monday 16 May to discuss accommodation.
"The family advised the officer that they had funds for short term hotel accommodation. The team were contacted again over the weekend and assisted the family with finding a hotel.
“Emergency accommodation can only be provided to those who have no other options for a place to stay. Bristol City Council officers are offering support to the family in finding temporary accommodation and discussing the options available to them.”
The fire at the guest house in Southville is being treated as deliberate by the fire service. In a statement this morning, Avon Fire and Rescue Service said the cause of the fire has been determined to be "deliberate ignition".
The full statement reads: "Crews from Temple, Bedminster, Kingswood, Avonmouth, Southmead, Weston and Portishead were called to reports of a fire in a property at 16:43.
"On arrival, crews found a three-storey building including a basement, with a fire on the second floor.
"With six firefighters wearing breathing apparatus, crews used one turntable ladder, a short length ceiling hook, drone, one 35mm ladder, two high pressure hose reels, one covering jet and three 45mm jets to extinguish the fire. A positive pressure ventilation fan was also used to clear smoke.
"Neighbouring properties were also checked as smoke had entered the shared roof space. The scene was inspected multiple times by fire investigation officers, as well as by a fire investigation dog.
"The incident was left in the hands of police colleagues, with further investigations being carried out. The cause of the incident was determined to have been deliberate ignition."
A police spokesperson said: "Enquiries into the fire continue and anyone with information which could help is asked to get in touch by calling 101 and giving reference 5222114328."
