A fire at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin was brought under control by Dublin Fire Brigade after staff and guests were evacuated from the premises this morning.
Among those evacuated was Henry Winkler, the American actor known for playing ‘The Fonz’ on Happy Days.
Winkler was seen thanking firefighters at the scene and told reporters he thought the fire alarm was an alarm clock.
“When I heard the fire alarm I thought it was the clock radio – I thought somebody had set the alarm before we got there, like another guest,” he told reporters.
“And finally I went into another room and it was still buzzing. So I called downstairs and the woman said in a very calm voice ‘Yes, we’re all evacuating, you must evacuate right now’.
“You know what, how wonderful are firemen? Some of my favourite human beings, firemen and firewomen.
“They run in when other people are running out. I think they deserve to (have their hands) shook.”
The Emmy Award winning actor is in Dublin to perform The Fonz and Beyond at the National Concert Hall and promote his memoir Being Henry.
The fire was reported at the hotel on St Stephen’s Green shortly before 11am on Wednesday morning. A road closure between St Stephen’s Green North and Kildare Street remains in place while emergency services continue to deal with the incident.
Dublin Fire Brigade said the evacuation “helped enormously” in dealing with the incident.
“Firefighters were called to a fire in a premises on St Stephen’s Green at 10.38 this morning The fire is under control with an effective evacuation helping enormously,” said Dublin Fire Brigade.
Gardaí were at the scene of the incident where they assisted Dublin Fire Brigade. No injuries have been reported at this time, a garda spokesperson said.
Dublin Fire Brigade said the fire was brought under control around 11.30am and the firefighting operation ceased just before 12 noon.
Traffic restrictions in the area were lifted following a short period of delays.
