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A 31-year-old woman has been taken into custody following an ‘intense’ fire on the top floor of the Pacific Hotel in Cairns’ CBD, which was a COVID-19 quarantine facility.
The blaze broke out around 7am and all 163 guests were evacuated safely from 132 rooms.
They’re now at the Holiday Inn, a back-up quarantine hotel.
Acting Chief Superintendent Chris Hodgman said the woman had travelled to Cairns from interstate and had been staying on the 11th floor of the hotel with her two children since Friday.
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Police expect to charge her with arson and possibly other offences.
“The hotel is currently a crime scene,” he said.
“I can’t go into any further details about how the fire started because it’s a sensitive investigation at this time.
“The 31-year-old female had been in quarantine for a couple of days.
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“There were three people occupying that room – the mother and the two children.
“The children are currently with us at the moment and we’re looking after their welfare.”
At least two rooms on the 11th floor have been gutted, while many other rooms across multiple floors have been damaged.
Acting Chief Superintendent Chris Hodgman commended hotel staff for safely evacuating guests within five minutes of the alarm going off.
“Without their assistance there could have been a different outcome and they did a magnificent job getting people out of the hotel.
“It was quite intense.
“I really feel for the hotel chain.
“They have supported us and the government with this response since March last year and for this to happen is a bit of a tragedy.”
The fire led to the declaration of the Public Safety Preservation Act (PSPA), with an area within Abbott, Shields, and Spence Streets, The Esplanade and Fogarty Park closed off.
The park was used as an evacuation gathering point.
Main points
- A 31-year-old woman is in police custody following a fire on the 11th floor of the Pacific Hotel in Cairns
- The woman had been in quarantine at the hotel with her two children
- 163 people were evacuated safely from 132 rooms
