‘Oh sh*t, I am going to die’: Covid hotel guest speaks out on fire

A woman quarantining on the 7th floor of a Cairns Covid hotel has alleged guests were ordered to ignore alarms after a fire broke out in the CBD building. SEE VIDEO FROM INSIDE

A WOMAN quarantining on the 7th floor of a Cairns Covid hotel has alleged guests were ordered to remain behind locked doors and ignore alarms after a fire broke out in the CBD building.

On Sunday morning the blaze forced the evacuation of 163 guests from the Pacific Hotel.

While some have been relocated at the nearby 173 room Holiday Inn isolation hotel, 20 “low-risk” arrivals from other parts of the state have been moved to facilities on the Gold Coast.

It’s understood 100 rooms at the Holiday Inn have been allocated to “higher-risk” overseas travellers, “to minimise transit time” according to Queensland Health.

Quarantine hotel guest Miranda Barczuk in Cairns for her father’s funeral was in the final day of her stay when the fire broke out, but she was not immediately concerned when fire alarms sounded through the 11 storey building.

“They actually said over the PA system that it was a false alarm,” she said.

“I was in doing my make-up and then all of a sudden it was just like, ‘please stay in your room’.

“But they didn’t say there was a fire or anything like that.”

Miranda Barczuk was locked down at the Pacific Hotel when fire broke out in the building on Sunday morning. Picture: Peter Carruthers

The fire triggered a full scale emergency response in the CBD as firefighters using a crane worked to extinguish the blaze that ended up gutting two top floor rooms.

Ms Barczuk was released from quarantine on Sunday following what she described as a terrifying experience.

“There was a fear of actually thinking, ‘oh sh*t, I am going to die’, so it was a bit scary,” she said.

“It’s not good when they don’t have proper protocol … that’s pretty poor on their effort with that.”

A 31-year-old Manoora woman Tessie Ann Merrypor has been charged with arson and wilful damage over a fire at the Pacific Hotel in Cairns.

A Queensland Health spokesman said all quarantine hotels managed by the agency had “well-worked and rehearsed evacuation plans”.

Manoora woman Tessie Ann Merrypor, 31, charged with wilful damage and arson, had her matter heard in the Cairns Magistrates Court on Monday. However her lawyer Hayley Fox requested the matter be delayed.

“Unfortunately, I have not been able to speak with my client this morning as she is still in quarantine in the watch house,” she said.

Magistrate Susan Warring adjourned Ms Merrypor’s case to be heard again on Tuesday morning.

Originally published as ‘Oh sh*t, I am going to die’: Covid hotel guest speaks out on fire