Sinnott’s ‘green’ boiler explodes

By Eoin English

Friday, February 10, 2012

Disability rights campaigner Kathy Sinnott watched in dismay last night as her "green dream" went up in smoke.

The former MEP and her family had a lucky escape after a massive fire ripped through a shed where an environmentally friendly biomass boiler had been installed recently to heat their Co Cork home. It destroyed a two-year supply of wood stacked nearby.

The blaze could be seen for several miles around the Five Mile Bridge area.

Gardaí cordoned off a large area around the Sinnott home amid concerns that fuel tanks for welding torches, which were stored close by, might explode.

"My son was in the shed 15 minutes before the fire, and everything was fine," Ms Sinnott said.

"And I was in the shed for the afternoon sorting my recycling, and again, everything seemed fine."

Two fire crews from Carrigaline and one from Cork City service rushed to the scene and a 10,000 litre water tanker was dispatched from Anglesea St station.

The shed was destroyed and there was some damage to the facia and soffits at one end of Ms Sinnott’s house.

"We just don’t know what caused the blaze but I think I’ll be going back to an ordinary boiler," said Ms Sinnott. "It was a big bonfire. But at least we had a carbon neutral bonfire."

This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Friday, February 10, 2012