Florida: Tourists from Ireland caught up in 'lightning strike' fire at resort


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Media captionThe fire at the Orlando resort hotel is thought to have started after it was struck by lightning
Holidaymakers from across Ireland have avoided injury after a major fire thought to have been caused by a lightning strike gutted part of their hotel in the United States.
About 500 rooms in the Avanti International Resort in Orlando, Florida, were evacuated when the fire started on Sunday night.

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The blaze was "more than likely" caused by a lightning strike, fire services said

Fire services said it was likely that lightning struck the building's roof.
Tourist Caroline Downey Tierney said: "It was crazy, complete bedlam."
Mrs Downey Tierney, from Ballyshannon in County Donegal, is staying at the hotel with her husband Darragh.
They were told to leave after the fire broke out on the hotel's fourth floor.
"We were told to pack up our stuff and go," she said.
"Eventually we got back into our room.
"It was scary stuff - the thunder and lightning was wild."
Carla Black, from Belfast, was in a room with her family a short distance from where the fire started.
She said strong storm winds spread the fire across the building and destroyed the top floor.

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The fire started on the fourth-floor roof of the Orlando resort hotel

"The lightning was mental, we could hear that it was right above our heads, and then we could smell burning," she said.
"It was a small fire at first but I've never seen anything spread so quickly.
"We were moved out at first because of the smoke, but then the fire was looking like it might even spread to our block."

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Holidaymaker Carla Black said the fire spread rapidly across the top of the hotel block

Ms Black added that one couple who had just checked in to their room lost all of their belongings in the blaze.
In a Facebook post, the Avanti Resort said the building had been secured and was "open and operational".
No-one is believed to have been injured in the incident.

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Residents who were staying in the block in which the fire broke out have been moved to other hotels