The manager of a Perth hotel where three people and a dog died in a fire says the blaze will haunt her for the rest of her life – and insists she had repeatedly flagged up fire safety concerns.
Karen Kennedy had worked as general manager at the New County Hotel for nearly five years before the January 2 fire.
Sisters Donna Janse Van Rensburg, 44, and Sharon McLean, 47, from Aberdeen and 38-year-old Keith Russell, originally from Edinburgh, died in the blaze, along with Donna’s dog Joey.
While the cause of the fire has not been confirmed – with an investigation continuing – independent consultants, the fire service and Perth and Kinross Council had all raised health and safety concerns just weeks before the incident.
‘I will have to live with this every day’
Karen has told The Courier she will always wonder whether she could have done more to improve conditions at the hotel.
The 48-year-old – who lost her granddaughter Kinsley McMillan to a brain tumour last year – said: “I’m still breathing, but there are families bereaved and I know first-hand how crushing that is.
“I need to speak out about what has happened for the families who have lost their loved ones.
“I will have to live with this every day for the rest of my life.”
Karen, who was at home in Forfar when the fire took hold but travelled to the scene as soon as she was informed, says she had concerns for years about conditions in the hotel.
She said: “It’s too late for those who died but for a long time I was trying to take action.
“I was constantly flagging up my worries to Rashid Hussain, who owned the hotel as part of his Perth Hospitality company.
“My worries centred in particular around fire safety and security in the hotel.
Fears over use of fan heaters
“I said we needed a plumber and electrician urgently. I keep thinking what could I have done differently.”
The Courier has seen messages exchanged between Karen and a man described as being Mr Hussain’s PA, in November and December, in which she raised concerns about areas of the hotel including the fire alarm, heating and emergency lighting.
An audit by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, carried out on December 12, highlighted emergency lighting and alarm systems as areas for improvement.
Karen also says she expressed her fears about the use of fan heaters in the property.
Earlier in the month she had signed off on a contract for independent health and safety consultants to inspect the hotel, on behalf of Perth Hospitality.
The resulting report highlighted 29 areas of concern.
Karen – who led staff in laying flowers at the scene of the fire three days after the tragedy – claims that off the back of the various reports into the state of the hotel, she tried to persuade Mr Hussain to take action.
‘I know me and my staff did everything we could’
She said: “We were due to have a staff meeting with either him or one of the other directors on January 11 to get an update on repair work.
“The fire obviously overtook that.”
Mr Hussain has yet to publicly respond to any of the three reports into health and safety at the hotel.
He has also not confirmed whether any of the recommendations in each of the reports was implemented.
Karen claims most of the problems were not addressed.
She added: “I was going crazy. I take fire safety so seriously – I didn’t even have electric lights on the hotel’s Christmas tree.
“I feel horrible but I know me and my staff tried to do everything we could to prevent this tragedy happening.”
Mr Hussain has not responded to multiple requests for comment from The Courier.
We have further contacted the businessman for comment on Karen’s claims.
He previously told The Times he was not involved in the day-to-day running of the venue and dismissed claims of health and safety concerns at the hotel as “untrue”.
