Hotel blaze 'dealt with properly'

Ninety people managed to get out of the building safely

A senior officer investigating the Penhallow Hotel fire in Cornwall says he is confident as to how it was handled by the county's fire brigade.

Three people died in the fire at the hotel in Newquay in August 2007. A murder inquiry is under way.

Merseyside Fire Service investigated the brigade's handling of the blaze, the county's worst for 30 years.

Chief Fire Officer Tony McGuirk said he was satisfied as how the operational response was carried out.

Cornwall County Council's was also told the lack of an aerial platform and silted up fire hydrants did not make any significant difference to the outcome of the incident on 18 August.

Two arrests

About 120 firefighters fought the blaze and up to 90 people were forced to escape from the fire.

Joan Harper, 80, from Stoke-on-Trent, who was on holiday in the resort, died in the incident which began in the hotel bar.

Holidaymaker Peter Hughes, 43, of Cheslyn Hay, Staffordshire, died trying to rescue his mother, Monica, 86, who also died.

Two men, aged 21 and 44, were arrested on suspicion of murder last month and released on bail until 9 April.

Since the fire, Cornwall County Council agreed to fund a pilot of the new duty scheme and is now considering buying another aerial platform or sharing one with other brigades across the South West.