Hostel blaze forces charities to find places for 75 homeless people

UNDER-FUNDED charities were hit with a new crisis last night and forced to find accommodation for 75 homeless people after a hostel blaze in Dublin.

Two men suffered minor hand and leg injuries when fleeing from the building in the Christchurch area yesterday morning.

Five units of Dublin Fire Brigade fought the fire at the St Vincent de Paul Hostel (SVP) in Back Lane, Christchurch, at 3am.

The injured men are in a stable condition at St James’s Hospital, Dublin. Their injuries are described as “not serious”.

The hostel was closed last night as safety experts tried to determine the cause of the fire. All the occupants were guaranteed beds in other hostels.

“We’ve had a great response from charities and everyone will have a place to stay until we open in a few days,” a spokesperson for the SVP said.

Just under half of the hostel’s 75 occupants were evacuated during the fire.

“There was only one wing affected and we’re hoping to have the building open soon. The place only suffered smoke damage,” the SVP spokesperson said.

The charity’s vice-president, John Monaghan said an increasing number of people were being forced to live in hostels. “Hostels are already stretched because many vulnerable people can’t afford the high rents landlords are demanding. Nights like this are difficult for charities.

“We need to put structures in place that will allow these people live again in houses in the community,” Mr Monaghan said.

The Department of Social Welfare should also increase rent allowances to help people break the cycle of homelessness, he said.

St Vincent de Paul has been working in Ireland for 159 years and has 9,000 members. The charity has an annual budget of €22 million and funding is raised by contributions.

The organisation also runs breakfast clubs, budgeting services, youth clubs, homework clubs, drugs projects, social housing schemes and family resource centres.