The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Fisher’s Hotel back in business
General manager Brian Wishart is delighted to re-open the Pitlochry hotel after it was evacuated in the early hours of New Year’s Day due to a fire.
A fire-hit Perthshire hotel was back in business yesterday – just days after a massive blaze wiped out top-floor bedrooms.
The iconic Fisher’s Hotel in Pitlochry was evacuated in the early hours of New Year’s Day when a section of its roof went up in flames.
Staff have been widely praised for helping get all guests to safety, while around 55 firefighters were scrambled from across the north of Scotland to tackle the inferno.
The Atholl Street establishment, which dates back to the 19th Century, has now re-opened to guests after an extensive week-long clear-up.
General manager Brian Wishart said he was “delighted” to have the hotel back on its feet, so soon after the fire.
“We are able to once again offer guests our traditional Highland hospitality,” he said.
“We have all services up and running which includes restaurant, bars and lounge and that’s down to, in no small part, the staff and contractors who have been working non-stop over the past few days.”
Only 48 bedrooms are back in use, with around 90 still out of bounds. The dining area has been moved temporarily to a front room on the ground floor.
Fire chiefs and Police Scotland have completed their investigation into the blaze, but have failed to find a cause.
It is believed a stray firework may have fallen on to the roof and set fire to the eaves. The smoke set off an automatic fire alarm on the top level of the building at around 5.30am.
Many guests were roused by staff running through the corridors, calling: “This is not a drill.”
One of them was Patricia Leslie, from Dunfermline, who had been staying at Fisher’s for four nights over Hogmanay.
“When the alarm went off we just thought it was something of nothing,” she said.
“But the next thing we knew, we were standing outside in our night clothes watching the fire engines arrive.”
All guests were taken to Scotland’s Hotel in nearby Bonnethill Road.
They were later bussed to the Atholl Palace, Fisher’s sister hotel.
Mrs Leslie said: “It was a coach company from Bristol which helped out.
“They had brought a group of guests up to Fisher’s and they agreed to use the tour bus to take everyone up the road.”
She added: “We were so well looked after the whole time. We were always kept informed and we were never left short of food and hot drinks.
“They even provided clothes for all the people who had spent the day in their pyjamas. I can’t praise the staff at all the hotels highly enough.”
Mrs Leslie said she had booked her stay back in February and was looking forward to seeing Pitlochry’s New Year’s Day street party for the first time.
The event, which draws about 5,000 people to the area each year, had to be cancelled as a result of the fire, however.
The blaze was contained to four bedrooms on the top floor, although rooms underneath were also damaged.
A stone chimney helped the flames spreading to neighbouring rooms on the third floor, which were largely untouched.
We have all services up and running which includes restaurant, bars and lounge and that’s down to, in no small part, the staff and contractors. BRIAN WISHART