A One YMCA resident recounts escaping a harrowing hostel fire in Watford, describing intense heat and lasting trauma.
He remembers the event. He told the Watford Observer about it. He sat at his computer in his wheelchair when he smelled something weird.
He doesn’t know how long his eyes stayed closed, but he sat in the same spot. Flames burned his face, which woke him up. Arthur turned to the right slightly and saw a wall of fire.
The flames surrounded him, feeling hellishly hot. He says God helped him. He rolled out of the room and escaped as flames filled it.
Arthur went to Mount Vernon Hospital in Northwood. Doctors treated him for smoke inhalation. He then moved to the Travelodge in Elstree.
That night felt very hot to him. The fire moved quickly, and Arthur felt trapped, these feelings hit him later. He is grateful for a second life and is still in shock.
He keeps seeing the fire and now understands what trapped people experience. Police and fire crews arrived. Arthur can’t describe the night fully because the images block him, preventing him from expressing the horror.
Shannon Binks lived there too and said the scene was chaotic. People panicked while crews fought the fire. The crews put the fire out within an hour. The ground floor had no power and there was a lot of smoke. The experience was frightening.