Grand Hotel fire

By Press Release Oct 10, 2021

Firefighters were called to the former Grand Hotel at Sandown on Sunday to tackle a blaze which had broken out in a single storey building at the back of the premises.

Crews from Newport, Ryde, Sandown and Shanklin attended the scene around 4pm and extinguished the blaze using one main jet, one safety jet, two hose reels and four sets of breathing apparatus.

A spokesperson for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service said the blaze caused 80 per cent damage to a single-storey building.

Firefighters dampened down the scene and checked for hotspots before returning to station at 5.41pm. A police spokesman said: “We have been made aware of this incident by the Fire Service, but it is not being treated as suspicious.”

The derelict hotel was recently described as an ‘accident waiting to happen’ when the IW Observer reported that three children who had been exploring the site found a badger floating on a ‘mattress-like’ object in filthy water at least three-feet deep.

IW Observer reader, Tina Parsonage, said she was shocked there were no safety barriers blocking entry to the building, it was not boarded up and the ceiling was hanging down. Some fencing to the front of the building has been erected since our report, but access to the rear of the hotel was still possible.