THE King's Head Hotel in Abergavenny will be closed for approximately two weeks after a fire at the premises last week reports Rob Westall. Hundreds of curious shoppers packed Frogmore Street at 2pm last Thursday (August 4) to witness smoke billowing through the first floor windows of the 16th Century inn. Four fire-fighters wearing breathing apparatus took 20 minutes to extinguish the blaze involving the entrance hallway and first floor beams. Fire crews used a thermal imaging camera to detect the source of the fire which was identified as the electrical supply. All the people in the pub at the time were safely evacuated and one member of staff told the Chronicle that it was lucky that the fire had not happened on a busy market day. Staff at the neighbouring Abergavenny Town Hall were also evacuated amid fears that the blaze could bridge the gap between the two historic buildings. The owners of the pub Ken and Ruth Watkins had left Abergavenny earlier in the day bound for Birmingham Airport and were forced to abandon a planned holiday as a result of the blaze.
