MORE THAN 80 people had to vacate a hotel in Limerick yesterday after a fire broke out in a basement car park.
Patrick Punches Hotel, located at Punches Cross in the city, was closed for a number of hours after the blaze broke out at roughly 10am.
About 85 people had to be evacuated when the trouble started after the hotel’s gas-powered central heating system caught fire.
Nobody was injured in the incident.
Three units of Limerick City Fire Service supported by a unit from Rathkeale responded to the incident.
An assessment of the hotel was carried out and, although there was considerable smoke, the building was not badly damaged and management reopened the building a short time later.
The hotel’s emergency procedures were triggered when the fire alarms sounded and the building was safely evacuated within minutes.