This Sunday, exactly 50 years ago, holidaymakers in the Esplanade Hotel overlooking Oban’s beautiful bay fell asleep in their beds, as the long summer sun set behind the mountains of Morvern and Mull. Mr D. Robertson spotted a glow in the foyer of the Esplanade Hotel, from his yacht moored 50 metres offshore. Very shortly after, one radioed back on his walkie-talkie a very serious fire at the Esplanade, needing all emergency services. I climbed up and stuck a sock in it to deaden the sound.”“I had a car and I took [sub officer] George Downie down from the house to the fire station,” Donald added. The firemen were shouting for water, and it was up to me to try to get it for them.

Source: The Times July 20, 2023 11:25 UTC