Hotel boss pays tribute to fire crews after blaze

Staff and emergency services act quickly to deal with fire at luxury Skibo Castle

The boss of a luxury Highland hotel has thanked the quick reactions of the emergency services and his own staff after a blaze broke out in the building.

Six fire appliances and one aerial appliance were mobilised to Skibo Castle in Sutherland as staff were forced to relocate guests to alternative accommodation on the estate grounds and to nearby hotels in Dornoch.

Mark Loynd, group manager at the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, said: “This was a challenging incident and our firefighters worked hard alongside partners to bring this fire under control.”

The alarm was raised at 8.18pm on Monday as fire crews raced to the scene to tackle the fire inside the four-storey building.

It is believed the fire broke out in a chimney before spreading along to the roof space.

Firefighters responded rapidly to combat the fire before it was contained around 9.45pm.

Two guests were brought to safety by firefighters as another 40 were moved to alternative accommodation.

Peter Crome, chairman of the Carnegie Club who operate Skibo Castle, said: “We are grateful for the quick action of the emergency services and also for the exceptional response of our own staff, who assisted guests and volunteered to help in any way they could.

“Due to the fact that the fire was quickly contained, disruption has thankfully been limited and just a few rooms have suffered water damage.

“We are now fully open and operating as normal.”

Skibo Castle is a well-known luxury retreat for the rich and famous, with Madonna and Guy Ritchie opting to tie the knot at the venue back in 2000.

Nick Gorton, manager at the Links House at Royal Dornoch, said: “We took some of the guests in here because when something like that happens everybody jumps to help each other out.

“A lot of guests from Skibo come down to play golf here so it is good to help each other out because nobody wants to be in that boat and it could happen to any of us.

“Thankfully nobody was hurt and it was brought under control quickly and everybody was safe.”

Firefighters were in attendance again yesterday morning to conduct inspections and to dampen down hotspots.

Tommy Murray, a chef at the nearby Royal Golf Hotel, said: “The response was good to something that could have been serious.”

We are grateful for the quick action of the emergency services

Picture: Peter Jolly. Skibo Castle is now fully open again and operating as normal after the blaze.