Drinking water used to fight blaze

By Sean O’Riordan

Thursday, November 26, 2009

FIREFIGHTERS had to use tankers supplying drinking water to homes in Cork to extinguish a blaze at a kitchen factory yesterday.

The fire broke out at the Second Nature Kitchen Collection Store at Hollyhill Industrial Estate on the northside of the city, shortly before 9.30am yesterday.

Cork City Fire Brigade third officer Edward Buckley said, because of water shortages on the northside of the city following the floods, they took seven units to the blaze instead of the customary two or three.

The units included two fire brigade water tankers and a hydraulic platform.

However, the blaze was particularly intense, especially at the front of the building, and the fire brigade was forced to order in more water tankers.

Mr Buckley said they had to take them from the Mahon area where they were being used to supply drinking water to householders whose supply is still cut off.

Gardaí provided the tankers with a police escort and closed off some roads adjoining the kitchen factory so they could get to the scene as quickly as possible.

The fire brigade managed to bring the blaze under control in about 25 minutes but had to spend several hours dampening it down.

Mr Buckley said the use of drinking water tankers was part of a contingency plan drawn up with the city council to fight fires on the northside where many areas have no supply.

A number of people were working in the kitchen factory at the time and had to be evacuated. No injuries were reported.

Meanwhile, a family of five managed to escape when a fire broke out at their house in Co Cork at around 5am yesterday. It is believed an electrical fault caused the fire at the house at Duarigle, Newmarket.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Thursday, November 26, 2009