Laundry fire in Villa

Monday 03 June 2019

A fire in Villa Italia's commercial laundry room filled the restaurant with smoke early on Sunday morning, but no one was hurt in the incident.

Guernsey Fire & Rescue Service sent two fire engines to the scene to put out the small blaze, which started in a tumble drier, after the crews were alerted by an automatic alarm.

The officer on duty - Steve Wilkes - said the fire was on the North Plantation side of the restaurant, but smoke had travelled up and through the rest of the building.

"The fire was confined to the laundry area itself, but we had to deal with smoke logging throughout the rest of the building," he said.

"We received the call at 02:16 and sent two water tenders. We left the scene at 04:30." 

Christophe Gaultier, the MD of the Christies Group which run the restaurant, said the affects of the fire had not been 'that bad at all', but they would be closing the premises for a week or two to allow it to be ventilated. 

The Fire Service removed a number of laundry appliances from the building after they had dealt with the fire. Mr Wilkes added that the room itself had suffered smoke damage, but there was not anything more serious. No body was injured. 

Meanwhile, a second 'structure fire' was also dealt with over the weekend. Guernsey Fire & Rescue Service were called to Clifton on Sunday at around 20:00. No one was hurt in that incident either. 

Pictured top: Villa Italia.