28/10/2016 Spotlight

Good evening from Spotlight. and on BBC One we now join

Tonight the fire which has devastated the heart of Exeter's

Two of the city's oldest buhldings have been destroyed.

More than a hundred firefighters have spent the day battling

the flames after they spread from an art gallery to the famous

Tremendously important buildings. A whole series of 16th centurx

buildings that survived the Blitz. We don't have a lot that survived,

but we had that, until todax. We'll be live in Exeter in just

a moment as the efforts Also in the programme tonight -

what future for Plymouth airport? A long awaited report says

a nine million pound subsidx is needed for it to operate

passenger services again. And the RNLI struggle

in parts of the region Tonight a major fire contintes

in the heart of Exeter - more than a hundred fire fighters

have been trying to put out the blaze at The Royal Clardnce

Hotel in Cathedral Green. The fire is believed to havd started

at an art gallery which facds Exeter Cathedral but spread

to the hotel throughout Guests have described

being evacuated from the buhlding Hamish Marshall is at

the scene this evening. Firefighters from Dorset have been

called in to assist. I have spent the day watching one of

the biggest firefighting opdrations in the history of the Devon and

Somerset Fire and Rescue Service. It started before first light this

morning and 13 hours later, it is still continuing as the flales

continued to burn the buildhngs behind me. We will hear in ` moment

of the historical significance of those buildings. Behind thel is the

high street. Some properties there had been damaged, some businesses

have been unable to open today. We will see what is happening there as

well. But first, in a series of reports and reaction tonight, we

look at the story of the dax and how this fire unfolded. Harriet Branch

was one of the first people on the scene this morning. The landscape of

the city changed for ever. This is one of Exeter's most iconic

buildings. Nasty. Absolutelx nasty. I don't like seeing anything like

this happening at all. It is devastating, absolutely dev`stating.

It is a massive operation and I have seen the cord and in the fire

officers are incredibly brave. They have been fighting all day `nd some

of them are literally exhausted The main thing is they stay safd and you

have the ambulance crews in support of them as well. And this is how it

all started. The scene Exeter woke up to this

morning, following a loud, sharp alarm just after 5am that echoed

across cathedral green. More than 100 firefighters

had been at the scene dealing with the blazd,

whilst people were evacuated from My dad called up to say that we have

got evacuated. Did not say why. I got changed and went downst`irs and

it sounded like it was rainhng because of all the crackling. So I

quickly opened the door and saw this huge smoke and ash coming from the

building and then I saw the rate is orange flames. We didn't re`lise it

was a real fire. We just thought it was an error in the system `nd we

all rushed out and of coursd we immediately realised becausd as we

came out of the hotel there was falling debris burning stuff coming

down. I have lost my engagelent ring. And I have lost my new iPhone

which I only got yesterday `nd an iPad with all of the photographs.

That is the sad bit. Everybody got out of the hotel and it is just a

very sad day for Exeter. It looked like the fire was contained, but

that changed. A gust of air just after 10am cars the fire to spread

across to the Royal Clarencd Hotel building. It is incredibly difficult

for two reasons. The first hs the structural integrity in the second

is the number of voids. We have a very old building that is thmber

framed and it has a very high fire loading and it makes it verx

difficult for the cruise. Elergency services have been here for hours

and expect to be here for d`ys to come. Much of the high Stredt has

been closed. It would normally be quite busy, the final Fridax of the

half term, but instead the high street has been dominated bx fire

appliances. Let's go and look at the situation there now with our

correspondent Simon Hall. Yes, it is straight, eerily quiet

for a Friday evening. Quite apart from the firefighters. Much of the

area has been closed all dax and it has caused widespread disruption. As

our correspondent reports. Everyone in the centre of Exeter

seem to want a glimpse of what was happening as the flames to called

the Royal Clarence Hotel. L`te this afternoon, you could hear of the

structure of this landmark building begin to collapse inside. Wdll, the

problem is we don't know we are working tomorrow or not, do we? It

has been a terrible time for local cafes, shops and businesses close to

this hotel. It is more the loss of customers, then going elsewhere

than being disappointed with my staff. We also have stock that we

have to move because we onlx deal with fresh produce. We Ashldy

provide all the treatments for the Royal Clarence Hotel so we will not

be having those guests attend are spot any more. I have been visiting

the Royal Clarence Hotel since I was a child. My children have bden

visiting, so it is really s`d. It has been a remarkable day in the

is sealed off while the firdmen work is sealed off while the firdmen work

on this blaze. Meanwhile, it just a short distance away, everyone is

shopping as normal and even people are out in the streets enjoxing cups

of copy and sandwiches. Thex released a range atmosphere here

today. We came down so far `nd realised we could not go down any

further and we have had to concentrate our shopping around the

area. And even going into a mains sorted as shopping and that is

closed because of the water. There is now what? There is no water

because apparently the pressure is being taken out and saw the shop had

to close at three B. So we `re going to go home. It is sad, really sad.

The Clarence has been there forever. I double how many years it has been

there. We are trying to havd a look at it but we can't see it.

Shopkeepers told us they have struggled to keep up with the

developments today. Some close their doors because they had no w`ter

their best to ensure it is business their best to ensure it is business

as usual, but it won't be e`sy. Joining me now is Devon and

Somerset's chief fire officdr, Lee Howell. The first question hs how

are you getting on tonight with trying to control the fire? Well,

this is a very serious fire. We have four aerial platforms on each of the

corners of this major buildhng and a series of buildings and what we re

doing is we're making sure there is no further fire spreading to a

decent buildings and we are making sure there is no further fire

spreading to adjacent buildhngs and we're making good progress hs all we

are pleased with the progress. Do you know how long it is going to be

before you about got it unddr control? It is very difficult to

tell. In fact, part of the problem we have had in the thing th`t

particular fire is the nature of the construction. It is a very, very old

building and with common roof voids, the fire has been able to spread an

scene through different roof spaces. And so until and unless we `re able

to fully determined that thd fire is out, we are going to make stre that

we are doing everything we can to protect the heritage and also make

sure there are is no further fire spread. And we are on the wdekend,

coming up towards Christmas, a busy time. People want to know, will they

here in Exeter tomorrow? We are here in Exeter tomorrow? We are

doing absolutely busy we can to bring this under control as quickly

as we can, but at the same time we also make sure that businesses can

operate so we have already discussed the potential plan to reducd the

level of disruption that we can do especially in this part of the city.

What you by that? Produce the Gordon and if we can, we're going to see we

can allow access on one sidd of the high Street. The buildings that are

directly affected clearly whll be directly affected clearly whll be

out of bounds and we will still be operating there, but wherevdr

possible, we recognise the concerns possible, we recognise the concerns

and we are trying to do everything we can to accommodate busindsses

trading in Exeter tomorrow. One point we are being asked about

commies. You happy fire unddr control this morning and thdn it

flared up again. What happened there? It is a very completdd

incident and this morning all of the visible flames had gone, but

actually what had happened hf I left the incident this morning in the

incident commander had said that actually we still need to m`intain

our resources here until we are absolutely sure that this incident

is under control and just as well that we did that and took that

approach because actually it had started spreading to roof voids The

standard of fire diction for buildings built centuries ago are

nowhere near the same stand`rd now, so actually that was one of the

reasons why the fire spread. Thank you for joining us here this

evening. One interesting pohnt, I've been talking to police officers

lapping staffing the cord and is here. They tell me normally when

they have to keep people aw`y from their work, their offices, their

businesses, they can get quhte grumpy, but not here today. Police

officers tell me they have seen nothing but support, good-n`tured

from people, bringing the copy to the people involved in this

firefighting effort. A sign of communities billet and shipped out

at the hand that has becausd to do these Doric heart of Exeter. -- to

Hall in the high street there. As he Hall in the high street there. As he

was saying, it is an ancient building behind us at the agent

heart of the city. Let's find out just how much has been lost today.

Historian Todd Gray is with me. How might have been lost? Its prominence

gives it a distinction, but really you are rebuilding a mediev`l

building and turning it into a hotel give it a distinction all across the

country. It is devastating. All of the buildings around it are

incredibly important. And how important is it the fire dodsn't

spread any further? Well, what we have is an island of mediev`l

buildings behind us. We losd to -- we lost 25% of the city durhng the

Blitz and also through development in the 1960s and 1970s. This is the

key to the ancient part of Dxeter. The worry is that it will spread to

moral -- Laura Ashley and the others around which a real gems. This is

Exeter at its best, so to lose them would be a real shame. And they have

an interesting history. The Clarence is a landmark building and hf you

essentially, you stayed herd. You essentially, you stayed herd. You

took spotter. People who cant imagine where there because it was

the way to be. It had an Egxptian room in the mid-19th centurx. It was

like going off to Tutankhamtn was Maktoum. It is a wonderful building

and to think that we have lost it today is that in. -- is terrible. It

also had links with the Nazhs before the war? Yes, it was the pl`ce ready

Fascists met in the 1930s and before that it was an abolitionist centre

for the war of Devon. If yot were against slavery, that is whdre you

went. So to have this gone hn just a day is just shocking. 20 very much

for joining us this evening. As you can see, the firefighters are still

on scene here tonight. They are going to be here right throtgh the

weekend as well. Earlier, some form was put on the adjoining buhldings

to try to stop the fire frol to try to stop the fire frol

spreading, but as you can sde, there are still flames this evening and

there is still a big job for the firefighters to do here at Cathedral

Green in Exeter. Onto some of today's

other stories now. A man has been jailed for two years,

for driving his car at his dstranged in the car park at

Royal Cornwall Hospital. The court was shown this dr`matic

CCTV footage of 55-year-old Mark He also struck a member of hospital

staff when attempting The former treasurer

of the Newquay Hornets, Stephen Simmons, has been sdntenced

to 21 months in jail for stdaling Earlier this month he'd ple`ded

guilty to charges of fraud, A scheme which has reduced `lcohol

and drug related crime and anti-social behaviour

in Penzance and Newlyn has The National Pubwatch Award was

received at the House of Colmons. A long-awaited report on thd future

of Plymouth Airport has concluded that it would be unable to operate

passenger services without government subsidy,

the BBC has learned. The draft report from the Ddpartment

of Transport is a review of all the previous studies

into the viability of the ahrport, The BBC can also reveal that

campaigners fighting to re-open the airport would need ?9 mhllion

of Government subsidy But they maintain they can

still re-open the airport, despite the fact no public

money is available. Scott Bingham has this

exclusive report. Five years after it closed,

the future of Plymouth Airport is The question is,

is it viable or not? Various studies have reached

opposing views, so all parthes have been banking on a new Government

report to come up with a definitive Well, the BBC can reveal th`t

a draft of that report from the Department for Transport, which

reviewed all the previous studies, has concluded there is not

sufficient demand to operatd commercially viable passengdr

services from a reopened Plxmouth City Airport without

Government subsidy. That is effectively saying ht's not

viable again, isn't it? No, if you look at

the at the language... their study at the moment,

but what they said was 'would not be viable without Government stpport

in the early years.' That is because we

said we would like to see rdgional air connectivity fund

support for developing break even in the early years,

so for them to come back and say we don't see how it could be vhable

without support in the earlx days, it just seems to me

a strange kind of language. Fly Plymouth maintain

they could reopen the airport without any subsidy,

yet the plan they submitted to the Department for Transport

would require ?4 million in Government loans at launch

and a further ?5 million to cover It looks to me and to anyond else,

you're asking for 9 million quid of You have to distinguish

between the nature of subsidies and So for now, the

uncertainty continues. The Department for

Transport said the final study will be

published in due course. Plymouth City Council says

while it is seeking to protdct the airport in its local plan,

its future will ultimately be by an Meanwhile, Sutton Harbour Holdings,

which leases the report from the Council, maintains

it is not viable and says it will continue with its plans

to redevelop the The RNLI has been showcasing

the work of its beach lifegtards in the hope of recruiting more

for the region. The charity can struggle to recruit

lifeguards to some beaches hn Dorset and East Devon and it's looking

to build on the work it already does making beaches

in our region safer for everyone. Our Dorset reporter

Simon Clemison has been testing missing today in Weymouth and

another Dorset beaches. Where there is surf,

there are, of course, surfers. Not just a ready stock to draw

lifeguards from, but whose bodies But the RNLI covers beaches on this

stretch of coastline too. Harder to find new recruits,

but they've got a Today's trainees are about

to rescue... By rolling the board, they roll

the casualty out of danger. Do you have to be like an Olympic

swimmer to do this? No, just reasonably

confident in the water. So is it knowing about what to do,

rather than being the strongest I think it's a big misconception

with a lot of people that you need to be like Hasselhoff

or something like that to bd a We have got some huge resort beaches

which are perfect for familhes to come and enjoy their day safely

and lifeguards are a huge p`rt And absolutely we see a lot more

land-based incidents, so lifeguards are highly

trained in casualty care. They are first responders

for the ambulance service so we actually deal with a lot

of incidents like that. You don't know what

would happen each day. Nice varied ages and

abilities and stuff. Are you going to work

here in Dorset, do you think? I'm mainly based in Lyme Regis,

so that's kind of where I But I think we might end up doing

work in Bournemouth as well. But the charity says

respecting the water But the charity says respecting

the water is what is important, so you don't need

to call on a lifeguard. Onto sport - Football

and Plymouth Argyle will look to extend their 12 game unbdaten run

and four point lead at the top of League Two as they welcole

mid-table Colchester Exeter City are back

in the League Two relegation zone but they've performed better

on their travels - they go to Morecambe,

who've also struggled Yeovil are at home to Grimsby

and Torquay United will look to halt a run of just one win in 10 games

when they host third from bottom And our rugby teams are in `ction

for the next three days. Let's start on Sunday

and work backwards. In the Premiership, Exeter Chiefs

have got local rivals Bath `t home. The Chiefs are hoping to get back

to winning ways but it won't be easy against a side two

places above them. On Saturday, the Cornish Pirates

are at Rotherham and Albion And this evening Jersey

are at Yorkshire Carnegie A Cornish Paddleboarder

is about to swap the waves of Polzeath for the tropical

waters of Fiji. Alex Murray has been selectdd

for Team GB to compete at the rather long-titled -

Fiji International Surfing Association's World Standup Paddle

and paddleboard championships. As Johnny Rutherford

has been finding out, Alex Murray is passionate about the

boards he makes. And his passion doesn't stop there. He knows just

how to get the best out of them He came second in the national paddle

scooped up by Team GB to colpete in scooped up by Team GB to colpete in

the World Championships in Fiji I am as prepared as I can be, bearing

in mind I have never served there before and I will be up agahnst the

world was my best who are used to competing without wet suits in warm

conditions in massive waves, but we do occasionally get big wavds and I

been training for the past ten months or so. Mostly here at

Polzeath and some days it h`s its day. Obviously, the conditions today

are not brilliant but the great thing about paddle surfing hs that

you can go in any conditions. But in Fiji, the words are that thd weights

can be frighteningly big and this is the first time for Alex and his

first trip to Fiji. Everybody has really wound me up about how scary

it is going to be but I am just going to try to do my best `nd

hopefully with the adrenaline of the other guys around me it will give me

a bit more encouragement to take off on one of the biggest waves I have

ever served in my life. Frol the age of 12, Alex always favoured surfing

over other water sport dischplines he tried, until you had it go at

stand-up paddle surfing. Thd beauty of the stand-up paddle board is that

other servers. For me, it enables me other servers. For me, it enables me

to go in for a very short sdssion and get as many waves as I want

because I am per this out. Ht also gives me a lot more power when I'm

doing my turns. The feeling is fantastic. It is like surfing but on

another level to surfing. 200 athletes from 30 nations gather to

compete in Fiji, which starts on the 12th of November.

Before we go to the weather with Bee - let's head back to Exeter

Fire fighters remain on the scene of the Clarence Hotel,

almost 14 hours after first being called to the fire

Tonight part of the city centre remains cordoned off.

Let's go live to Hamish Marshall for the latest.

The latest information I am told is there are 27 pumping appliances here

in Exeter, trying to tackle this fire this evening. Just takd a few

moments ago, I can still sed flames coming out from the Royal Clarence

Hotel. It is a big job. And through the day, thousands of gallons of

water had been used. And in fact, down at the river a special pump has

been put into the water there to bring water from the river tp hoses

through the city centre to help tackle this blaze and peopld living

in Exeter are being asked to do what they can to use as little w`ter as

possible because so much of the city's resources have been tsed on

that today. I am told that firefighters will be here rhght

throughout the weekend. Ple`se officers from across Devon `nd

Cornwall have been drafted hn. They will be manning cordons as well but

it is hoped part of the citx centre will be open for people to shop

tomorrow. As for a cause, rdnovation work on the art gallery next door, I

am told, is one possible catse. One other thing to read tonight, no one

has been injured. OK, many thanks, Hamish.

It is not looking too bad. H should be able to get out on my broom for

Halloween. Pretty much the same as the next few days. We have had very

grey skies. This sent from one of our weather watchers this morning

and very little changes over the coming days. It will stay mhld this

weekend. An awful lot of cloud about. On balance, more clotd than

sunshine, and again we will see is Kali mist and fog. The reason for is

we have got high-pressure anchored across the UK. There is no change

over the coming days. A lot of cloud trapped underneath that high, so not

much in the way of rainfall but much in the way of rainfall but

certainly a good deal of cloud. Quite a bit of Lookout as wdll,

particularly over the coming mornings. Halloween, it shotld be

dry, a little bit more sunshine compared with the weekend and

against is overnight mist and fog and you can see from the satellite

picture just how much cloud we have had today. It has been breaking up

in places, so I think there has been some bright spells but generally it

is going to be quite cloudy as we had to tonight and that clotd will

lower salt mist, he'll fog xet again, the odd spot of drizzle but I

think most places will be dry. With all of that cloud, it will not be a

cold night. We could get down into single figures in the countryside.

For most, those of 10-11dC. A great start to the day tomorrow. Some

drizzle. Most places dry. It will slowly brighten as we go through the

day. We will see some sunshhne coming and going. The best bet of

sunshine on high ground. Whdre you do get the brightness, it could well

Celsius above what we would expect Celsius above what we would expect

for the time of year. Height of around 15 Celsius. So I think as we

head towards the Isles of Scilly, it will stay largely dry. Again, and of

a lot of cloud but also somd bright spells into the afternoon. Here are

the times of high water. In terms of surfing, not a great deal of waves.

Slightly more on the north coast. Further south, one to two foot and

clean. For our coastal waters, winds east to sell easterly, thred to

four. Fairweather after any mist and fog and the visibility good. By

Halloween itself, dry but cloudy. You can expect some sunshind through

the afternoon. Quite eerie overnight, actually. Once again we

will see some mist and fog so perfectly for the trick or treat is

out there. Very quiet as we head to the coming days. A lot of cloud as

I have mentioned. As we go through the weekend, we have some e`rly mist

and fog tomorrow. The cloud will be big and it could give the odd spot

of drizzle but for most of ht will be dry. Into the afternoon, we

should see some decent spells of sunshine. Those temperatures doing

well. At this time of year, we would expect- around 11-12dC. We will

probably get the mid teens tomorrow. By Saturday night, if you'rd out and

about coming to be dry. A lot of cloud so quite a mild night and that

does mean Britain on Sunday, we will seize early mist and fog. Fhgure

cloud on Sunday. So let brightness will stop but again, where xou do

get some breaks, it is cert`inly not going to be cold and it looks like

actually as we had into the side of next week things are staying

settled. Super Halloween itself another dry day with some bright

spells and staying mild. Back to you.

The experiment indeed. That is just about it from us. I will be back

with the late news including all of the latest from the fire on

Cathedral Green in Exeter. Of course, that is at 10:30pm here on

lovely evening and a good wdekend. lovely evening and a good wdekend.

Take. Good night. It took us once to get through

the novel Anna Karenina. It was used to help my friend

with depression, and finishing as we went

to sleep at night. tapping each letter through the wall

that divided our cells as we served life sentences

in solitary confinement. We promise to encourage

others to dream big