Young doctor tells of escape

A YOUNG doctor who was staying in short-term accommodation above Pilgrim Coffee has told of the terrifying moment he realised fire was taking hold downstairs.

Edward Adi, who was visiting Hobart from Melbourne for a training course, was one of 20 people staying at Argyle Accommodation when the blaze broke out late on Monday night.

Dr Adi said he was watching TV in his room when he first smelt smoke.

“Not too long after that I saw smoke seeping under the door, that’s when it started to hit home,” he told the Mercury. “I knew it wasn’t a drill straight away … the smoke was quite strong and it was burning my eyes.

“I grabbed my phone, wallet, watch and head torch before making my way to the stairs.”

Dr Adi, 27, said he could only see about five metres ahead as smoke continued to fill the building.

“I was concerned that we would get trapped up there,” Dr Adi said.

“I didn’t know what to expect, I just wanted to get out of there. I couldn't see the end of the stairs, so I walked down and hoped there would be no fire before I got out on to the street.”

Dr Adi said firefighters were on the scene within about 30 seconds of the smoke alarms being activated.

“Everyone watching on was surprisingly calm,” he said. “The fireys did a terrific job in putting out the fire and the paramedics were also really helpful, getting blankets to people on the street.”

The owners of Argyle Accommodation managed to arrange beds for those who were booked into the rooms for the night in another location.

Dr Adi’s belongings were collected by firefighters and returned to him before his flight back to Melbourne yesterday morning.

Argyle Accommodation co-owner Andrew Geard yesterday said he expected smoke damage would keep his business closed for months.

“[My business partner] Greg and I have pretty much been up all night,” he said.

“He’s been trying to relocate everyone into alternate accommodation and I’m doing the paperwork. At this stage it looks like we’ll be up for $250,000 in damages.

“It’s devastating. We only started up six months ago and now this has happened.”