Four-Alarm Fire at Recently Renovated Newport Hotel - “We’ll Help Any Way We Can,” Says Tourism Head
Tuesday, May 24, 2022
A four-alarm fire broke out overnight at a Newport hotel — and the head of Discover Newport says the hospitality community is ready to help in any way it can.
Several Newport firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation in putting out the fire at the 220 room Wayfinder Hotel on Admiral Kalfbus Road — across from the Newport Grand casino — which had recently undergone extensive renovations when it reopened in July 2020.
“First and foremost, less than 24 hours now later, thankfully no one was seriously injured in the fire. Firefighters did get treated for smoke inhalation, but there was no loss of life,” said Evan Smith, Executive Director of Discover Newport. “I think right now there’s just a lot of gratitude going out to the Newport Fire Department.”
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Helping with Rooms - and Recovery
“These communities will be rallying around these people and support them,” said Smith. “I’ve had over ten calls this morning about what can I do to help. That was 220 room property and it had a full booking season ahead.”
Smith said that right now, the response will be immediate — and taking things one day at a time.
“They’ll have to redirect everyone from vacationers to wedding blocks. One of the daunting tasks is redirecting to other lodging properties in and around Newport County and the state,” said Smith. “Taking [this property] offline, some of it can be absorbed, and that’s what we’ll start working on right away — redirecting people. This weekend they probably already had a number of wedding parties."
“There’s an emotional part — the ownership and people whose jobs were there,” said Smith. “When things like this go sideways, it shows the best of a community. Everyone wants to do something to help. Right now, today is about setting up those communication links and networks to support that positive energy.”
“This is going to be a journey. You take one day at a time. It can seem daunting, but everyone on Team Newport is behind them — it’s about what progress can we do each day.”
Smith said that one of the last significant commercial fires in Newport — the 1998 fire at the Tennis Hall of Fame — similarly owed a debt of gratitude to the city’s firefighters.
“That’s an old wooden building. If they hadn’t acted quickly, the whole structure could have been lost,” said Smith.
On Tuesday morning, the City of Newport posted the following to Facebook.
"It was a long, treacherous night for the City’s Fire Department, who responded to a fire at The Wayfinder Hotel shortly after 8 p.m. on Monday.
We’re happy to report that all hotel guests and staff were able to evacuate safely and are thankful for the mutual aid that was received from departments from across both Newport and Washington Counties.
Please be advised that crews are still on scene this morning and access to the property is limited."
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