80: Hostel Fires
The Last Trip29 Touko 2025

80: Hostel Fires

When we talk about travel nightmares, we often picture what lurks outside - dark alleys, strangers with bad intentions, stories that begin with a missed train or a wrong run. But sometimes… the danger is already inside.
Today, we’re opening the door on something even more haunting: fire.
Sudden. Consuming, Unforgiving.
Because for some travelers, the scariest part of their journey wasn’t a distant unknown - it was their bed. Their room. The place they thought they were safest.
In this episode, we’re telling the stories of four devastating hostel fires: The Childers Palace Backpackers Hostel in Australia, where young backpackers from around the world came chasing sunshine and freedom - and never made it home.
The Downunder Hostel fire in Sydney, Australia - where a broken alarm system and locked exits turned a simple stay into a fatal trap.
A fire in Riga, Latvia - swift and deadly - inside an illegal hostel that should never have been open at all.
And the Loafers Lodge fire in Wellington, New Zealand, where residents living in budget rooms were left scrambling for their lives in the early hours of the morning.
Each of these stories is different. But they all ask the same, terrifying question: What happens when your escape route disappears?This isn’t about fear. It’s about awareness. Because travel should feel like possibility, not risk.
Hostels should be spaces of laughter and late-night stories - not loss.So stay with me, as we retrace the final hours inside these hostels. We’ll ask what went wrong… and what we can learn from the people who never got the chance to check out.

Do you have a story to share? Send your email to lasttrippodcast@gmail.com

We're on YouTube with full video: https://www.youtube.com/@TheLastTripPodcast

Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/thelasttripcrimepod/

And join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheLastTripPodcast

Listen to this week's podcast recommendation, A Scary State Podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-scary-state/id1562755130

Theme Music by Roger Allen Dexter

Sources:
https://www.smh.com.au/national/childers-danger-known-say-families-20030620-gdgyl4.html

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/backpackers-unlawfully-killed-hostel-fire-2265489

https://thewest.com.au/news/australia/survivors-remember-childers-fire-a-decade-on-ng-ya-207764

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-02/childers-backpacker-hostel-killer-has-parole-bid-rejected/13114808

https://www.smh.com.au/national/childers-hostel-blaze-survivors-want-psychopath-killer-to-die-behind-bars-20200604-p54zj6.html

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2000/06/fire-j30.html

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/1387948/Loner-found-guilty-of-hostel-arson-murders.html

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1243&dat=19890917&id=yNE9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=B4cDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4507,2248979

https://www.nsw.gov.au/departments-and-agencies/nsw-reconstruction-authority

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/a-tragic-toll-building-fires-in-australia/news-story/647ba30dc34a6d279f392a2f18bb2851

https://www.iklimnet.com/hotelfires/case19.html

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/latvia-fire-riga-hostel-fire-kills-eight-people-b932170.html

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/fire-illegal-riga-tourist-hostel-kills-eight-injures-nine-2021-04-28/

https://www.baltictimes.com/eight_people_die_in_fire_in_downtown_riga_hostel/

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/wellington-hostel-fire-hearse-arrives-as-police-recover-first-body/P4WWETXKSVEHXCPGJEFHCQQT34/

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300879640/wellington-fatal-hostel-fire-what-is-loafers-lodge

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/16/wellington-hostel-fire-multiple-people-dead-in-new-zealand-blaze

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/490033/loafers-lodge-had-a-building-wof-but-what-exactly-does-that-mean

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/why-loafers-lodge-didnt-have-sprinklers-and-wellington-firefighters-fears-over-ageing-trucks/UJ6L4RSWHBDIRKQ7OYDSFCZRSU/

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(148)

147: Kami Kirschbaum: The Safe Civilian

147: Kami Kirschbaum: The Safe Civilian

On today’s episode of The Last Trip, we’re joined by Kami Kirschbaum, founder of The Safe Civilian, a company creating protective clothing designed to look like everyday fashion.After experiencing a d...

1 Loka 37min

146: Bartt Felt: Valley of the Gods, Utah

146: Bartt Felt: Valley of the Gods, Utah

In March of 2018, 46-year-old Bartt Felt was driving from Michigan to Arizona to visit his father.  But while passing through a remote stretch of Utah, something went wrong.His ankle monitor last ping...

24 Syys 38min

145: Casey MacPherson and Caleb Guillory, Part 2: Anguilla

145: Casey MacPherson and Caleb Guillory, Part 2: Anguilla

Last week, we followed childhood friends Casey MacPherson-Pomeroy and Caleb Guillory to Anguilla, where a New Year’s trip ended in two sudden and deeply mysterious deaths. What first looked like a pos...

17 Syys 28min

144: Casey MacPherson & Caleb Guillory, Part 1

144: Casey MacPherson & Caleb Guillory, Part 1

In December 2018, childhood friends Casey MacPherson-Pomeroy and Caleb Guillory were together on the Caribbean island of Anguilla — surrounded by white sand, turquoise water, and people they trusted. ...

10 Syys 30min

143: Hannah Upp, Part 3: St. Thomas Island

143: Hannah Upp, Part 3: St. Thomas Island

Twice, Hannah Upp disappeared.  And twice, against incredible odds, she was found alive. After her second disappearance, Hannah moved to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where she built a new li...

3 Syys 34min

142: Hannah Upp, Part 2: Wheaton, Maryland

142: Hannah Upp, Part 2: Wheaton, Maryland

Last week, we told you the story of Hannah Upp, a 23-year-old teacher who mysteriously disappeared in New York City in 2008. Nearly three weeks later, Hannah was found alive in New York Harbor with no...

27 Elo 30min

141: Hannah Upp, Part 1: New York City, NY

141: Hannah Upp, Part 1: New York City, NY

In the summer of 2008, 23-year-old teacher Hannah Upp was living in New York City when she suddenly vanished.There was no warning, no explanation, and seemingly no reason for Hannah to walk away from ...

20 Elo 35min

140: Mary Frances Gregory: Las Vegas, Nevada

140: Mary Frances Gregory: Las Vegas, Nevada

In February of 1978, nineteen-year-old Mary Frances Gregory left Ontario for what was supposed to be a road trip to California. But she never made it.The man traveling with her later said they crossed...

13 Elo 34min

Suosittua kategoriassa Politiikka ja uutiset

uutiscast
aikalisa
vallattomat
politiikan-puskaradio
rss-viihde-media
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
rss-vaalirankkurit-podcast
tervo-halme
otetaan-yhdet
et-sa-noin-voi-sanoo-esittaa
rss-voi-venaja
rss-podme-livebox
rss-kaikki-uusiksi
rss-asiastudio
the-ulkopolitist
rss-ulkopoditiikkaa
rss-seksicast
rss-raha-talous-ja-politiikka
rss-pinnalla