Emergency services called to fire at Hilton Hotel in Surfers Paradise
Gold Coast residents have recounted the shock of witnessing raging flames “right outside” their window as a fireball tore through the Hilton at Surfers Paradise overnight. See the damage.
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Gold Coast residents have captured the moment a fire ripped through a Surfers Paradise hotel in the early hours of Friday morning.
Emergency services were called to the Hilton Surfers Paradise Hotel along Surfers Paradise Boulevard at around 2am.
A Fire Department spokeswoman said several crews were called after a fire ignited on the roof of the western tower.
As crews were battling to contain the blaze, debris was raining from the roof down to level two, where multiple restaurants operate, including Steampunk Surfers Paradise.
Surfers Paradise resident Joevy Lyn captured a ball of debris on fire, dropping 120m down the tower as sirens echoed through the Glitter Strip.
Queensland police helped evacuate everyone from the burning building and guests were allowed back inside at 6am.
A Surfers Paradise resident shared a video of fire crews battling the blaze.
“That’s roaring up there now,” she said.
“Steampunk’s gone. I can see someone down there with a hose.”
The Fire Department spokeswoman said they had both fires under control by 2.40am.
The cause of the fire was still unknown but investigations were ongoing.
Legendary Australian jockey Shane Dye recounted the shock of witnessing raging flames “right outside” his window.
The Melbourne Cup winner lives in a residence on the 34th floor of one of the Hilton towers, next to the western tower which ignited in incredible scenes.
The retired jockey, who rode more than 100 Group 1 winners around the world including the Melbourne Cup on Tawriffic in 1989 and four consecutive Golden Slippers, was awake working doing form for Hong Kong races.
“It was 2am in the morning and I was up working in my lounge and I looked outside the window and I couldn’t believe it,” Dye told Racenet.
“I’m in the other tower but I am only 30m away from the tower that was on fire and my window directly faces it.
“Everything was on fire and in flames, I couldn’t believe it.
“It was right outside my window.”
Dye evacuated from his tower but said there was mass confusion initially.
“I went downstairs and they didn’t even know,” Dye said.
“The bloke at the desk didn’t know, he had no idea.
“Then some people came running in and said everything was on fire and things were falling on the ground and we had to get out.
“I had mates ringing me from 2.15am just asking if I was OK.”
Leah Nicholson was staying at the Hilton on holidays with her wife and three-year-old daughter when the fire erupted.
Ms Nicholson said she didn’t hear any alarms, but when her wife rang the front desk they were shocked to learn there was a fire.
“They said: ‘There’s a fire in the building, follow the instructions’ but we couldn’t hear the instructions,” she said.
The family of three made their way down 14 flights of stairs. Once they got to the bottom they finally heard the evacuation alarms blaring through Surfers Paradise.
Ms Nicholson said they had arrived on the Gold Coast two weeks ago, but had escaped to Noosa during the cyclone.
They had returned to the Gold Coast in the hope of using their theme park passes, though she said they were too tired to go on Friday.
A bar at the bottom of the tower, Steampunk, took to social media to express their gratitude to the community for checking in after the fire.
In their post, they said the were open for business as usual.
A spokesperson for the Hilton Surfers Paradise confirmed all guests and team members were safe and normal hotel operations had resumed.
“The safety of our guests and team members remains our utmost priority,” they said.
“We are pleased to confirm that all guests and team members are safe, and normal hotel operations have resumed. We extend our sincere gratitude to the emergency services for their swift response and to our guests for their patience and co-operation.”
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