As flames tore through the former Balmoral Hotel last night and thick smoke choked the night sky over Bridlington, one woman working behind a bar became an unlikely lifeline for frightened families forced from their homes.
Rachel Eccles had already been on shift for more than nine hours at the Corner Bar on Promenade when customers first began arriving with alarming news.
“I was on a full day shift at the Corner Bar. I started working at 12 noon,” she said. “At about approximately 9.30pm people started entering the bar saying there was a fire just around the corner.”
Rachel immediately stepped outside to see for herself. What met her was a scene of chaos.
“I went to investigate and as soon as I went out on the street there was numerous people standing around and the smell of smoke,” she said. “I went up to the corner where the Balmoral Hotel was and saw flames coming from above the Balmoral and what looked like a flat at the side also.”
The former Balmoral Hotel on Fort Terrace, a long-derelict 34-bedroom building which closed in 2019, was once again at the centre of a major emergency response as fire crews battled the overnight blaze with telescopic ladders and multiple appliances from across the Humberside region.
But while firefighters fought the flames and police locked down the area, Rachel focused on the people left on the street watching the emergency unfold.
“I saw people I knew and who I knew lived in or around the area and made sure everyone was OK,” she said. “There was police, fire engines, ambulances all at the scene.”
With smoke hanging in the air and residents unsure whether they would be allowed back into their homes, Rachel made a decision that would define the night.
“I asked people to come and take refuge in the Corner Bar where I worked,” she said. “I also put a video and post on Facebook asking for all those affected by the fire to come and take refuge in the pub.”
She did more than offer shelter. Rachel paid for drinks and snacks herself.
“I said I would pay for them soft drinks, coffees and everything out my own tips and whatever I had in my pocket,” she said.
Among those she welcomed inside was a pregnant woman, her husband and autistic daughter, all standing outside in pyjamas after fleeing their home.
“There was a pregnant lady and her husband and her autistic daughter among the people who came in from the cold all in their PJs,” Rachel said. “I made them feel welcome, got them drinks, crisps, made them laugh on what was a sad time for them.”
As the hours dragged on, Rachel kept spirits up while police brought updates from outside. Some residents were allowed home. Others were not.
“About 10 others didn’t get any answers and couldn’t go back as it wasn’t safe,” she said. “So they stayed with me till 7am today.”
After a 19-hour shift, Rachel finally left exhausted. But by then, Bridlington already knew what it had witnessed: not just a fire, but a remarkable act of community spirit led by one woman who refused to let her neighbours face it alone.
