Cozumel, Q.R. — Paul Quintero Mari, the director of Civil Protection Cozumel, says the Allegro Cozumel operated without Civil Protection consent. After last week’s fire, Mari told Canal 10 that the hotel was considered high risk after an inspection a few weeks ago revealed failures in water pressure for their hydrants.
The island’s head of Dirección de Protección Civil said their installed hydrants were not in compliance and were an important factor in the fire consuming most of the hotel.
He said that once the fire started, the pumps that feed the hydrants did not work, which prevented staff from putting out flames and which also allowed the fire to spread.
Mari said weeks before when they detected the anomalies, the hotel was given recommendations by Dirección de Protección Civil, however, they did not comply.
“Our group of 7 was in one of the palapas that burned. There was no fire alarm. We were not alerted. We smelled smoke, walked outside our room and saw the massive fire three palapas from us.
“We grabbed our things and began going door to door alerting people. One guest tried to use the outdoor emergency fire hose, but it did not work. Now we have nothing,” Laura Casanover told Riviera Maya News regarding the August 2 fire.
After the fire, authorities found a total of 12 eight-room villas had been completely burned along with three dive buildings, three Kid’s Club buildings and one massage building, all of which had palapa rooftops.
He reported at the time of the fire, there were 575 guests which had the hotel at approximately 75 percent full. After the fire, two people were treated for smoke inhalation, two for first degree burns and two others for ankle sprains.
The fire started in a Kid’s Club from a short circuit in a compressor. The hotel is currently under suspension and it’s nearly 200 employees out of work. It could take months to reopen. He said the hotel is currently closed under files AC/56/DPC/2022/SUSP/00003- 00003-00003.
The hotel nor its parent company have issued any statement on the fire or compensation to their guests.
“Myself and many others that had reservations there are not being offered a refund. They are only offering a relocation to Riviera Maya (I’m only staying in Cozumel) or a credit – I do not want to stay with that hotel brand knowing their negligence. I would like a refund and they are refusing to provide one,” said Allegro Cozumel hotel guest Amanda Brown.