Firemen contain Hilton Crest fire Damage put at millions of dollars By Leonard Gildarie Stabroek News October 4, 2000 Fire of unknown origin yesterday broke out on the ground floor of the three-storey Hilton Crest International Hotel in Henry Street, leaving millions in damage. Firemen, who arrived on the scene shortly after the discovery of the fire, managed to contain the blaze, which reportedly started in a downstairs room occupied by the proprietrix, Diana Bowen, and her three daughters. Two guests, who were in a third-floor room of the concrete structure escaped by climbing down a ladder placed by firemen. Bowen's eldest daughter, 22-year-old Patricia Hodge, said she was in the lobby of the 25-room hotel when she smelt smoke. It was a little after 08.00 hrs. Hodge said that she went around to the kitchen area, thinking something was burning but found no sign of anything suspicious. She then went into the back room which served as the living quarters for the family. A shaken Hodge said she was greeted by the sight of fire on the upper bunk of a bed in the room. Together with her mother, who had been resting in another room, she attempted to put out the fire on the mattress but was driven back by the smoke. The two went around to the northern side of the hotel to try to tackle the blaze from outside, but were again forced back. An alarm was raised and shortly after, fire tenders started arriving. There were at least three fire tenders at the scene yesterday. Bowen said that her two younger daughters, ten-year-old Tiffany, and Latoya, 11, had left for school at around 07.00 hrs. She said she had been lying in the room where the fire had started but moved over to another downstairs room because she was unable to sleep. Bowen was perplexed at the fire. "No one in this home smokes and there was no fan, electric wires or anything that could have caused the bed to catch fire." Bowen said that they tried to use a fire extinguisher but encountered problems with the pin. Overseas-based Guyanese, Compton Beckles, 60, and his fiancee, Margaret Cyril, were thankful for their lucky escape. According to reports, the two were the only guests in the building at the time of the fire. "I was attracted by some commotion in the building and my fiancee went out of the room and saw smoke," Beckles said. "I grabbed my stuff and we headed down the hallway but the smoke forced us onto the veranda. We went down the ladders placed by the firemen." Beckles said he suffered from hypertension and was not accustomed to such excitement. The hotel, according to Bowen, had been in the family for almost 12 years now. The proprietrix said it was insured for only a small amount. The woman expressed her appreciation for the quick work by the firemen who she noted encountered difficulties when they attempted to get at the fire. A window had to be broken. The room where the fire had started was badly burnt and about six other rooms damaged. Water used by the firemen also caused damage. Yesterday's fire was the second in less than five months in a city hotel. In May, Park Hotel on Main Street was ravaged leaving hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. Follow the goings-on in Guyana in Guyana Today