Video: Devastating blaze tears through top restaurant the Star Inn at Harome
Firefighters have now scaled down their response to a blaze at the Star Inn, Harome, which has gutted the 14th century restaurant.
At its peak, 40 firefighters were tackling the fire.
A video showed flames shooting from the thatched roof of historic building near Helmsley.
In a tweet sent at 4.17am, owner and chef Andrew Pern said: “It’s been a long night so far… I’m afraid we won’t be open for a while as we are reduced to ashes with The Star on fire and still burning.”
Later the inn posted on its Facebook page: “We are devastated to let everyone know that there has been a fire in our restaurant and pub that has been burning throughout the night.
“Thankfully no one was hurt and our hotel Cross House Lodge is still fully operational, with food and accommodation for hotel guests.
“Please do bear with us as we try to navigate a way forward.
“Unfortunately our internet and phone lines are all currently down, so we are unable to answer phone and email messages at this time.
“Thank you for all of your messages of support, we are very grateful.”
No cause yet
Firefighters battled the blaze for 12 hours. They were called out at 10.13pm to the restaurant. At the peak of the blaze, nine appliances were on scene.
Fire crews from Helmsley, Kirkbymoorside and Pickering along with the aerial ladder platform from Huntington were called out.
In an 8.30am update, North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service said:
All the occupants of the property were out on the arrival of crews.
Crews have been at the scene overnight and at its peak there were 9 appliances (fire engines), 1 aerial ladder platform, 1 water bowser, 1 welfare unit and an incident command unit in attendance.
Crews worked with main jets and hose reel jets to contain the fire and the aerial ladder platform was deployed to removed thatch from the roof.
The incident was scaled back to 7 fire engines and the aerial ladder platform at around 5:45am.
The incident is still ongoing and crews are still working to extinguish the fire in the roof using hose reel jets and 45 jets.
There is no cause at this time, but Fire Investigation Officers will be attending the incident this morning.
The 10am update brought better news:
The incident is being scaled down to three fire engines and an aerial ladder platform. The remaining crews are damping down and continuing to remove thatch.
Second Star fire
It is the second time that one of Andrew’s restaurants has been severely damaged by fire.
Three years ago, in November 2018, a blaze ripped through the kitchens of the Star Inn The City in York, destroying the roof. The bar reopened weeks later, but the restaurant was closed for months.
The Star Inn at Harome is recognised as one of the UK’s finest restaurants.
It has a Michelin star and is usually booked up well in advance.
Ben Thorpe, who runs York On A Fork, tweeted this morning: “What awful news to wake to. Fingers crossed it’s not as awful as this looks.”
Food expert Karl Wilkinson tweeted: “So sorry to see these pictures, hope that you are all safe and well. Shocking sights, can’t begin to understand how you must all be feeling. Keep us posted when you can and let the industry at large know if there is anything that would help support you and the team.”