Village in shock after baby girl dies in clothes’ horse fire

A LIMERICK couple has been plunged into grief after the death of their 19-month-old baby girl in a clothes’ horse fire.

The child was in the care of relatives when the freak accident happened on Saturday last as her parents were in Limerick city doing their Christmas shopping.

Sean and Margaret O'Sullivan from Woodfield Park, Newcastle West, who have one other child, went into Limerick City on Saturday morning to do their Christmas shopping but within a few hours they were frantically travelling to Crumlin Hospital, Dublin to be by baby Chloe's bedside.

"The child was playing on the floor, when a clothes' horse near her caught fire. The items on the clothes horse became engulfed in flames and little Chloe suffered fatal wounds," said a close family friend.

"The child's parents had gone into the city to do some Christmas shopping. They had planned to take Chloe in to see Santa next weekend. This is the saddest accident I've ever heard of," said the woman.

A doctor and ambulance crew were quickly on the scene but numerous attempts to resuscitate Chloe failed. She died in Crumlin Children's Hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning.

"This is an awful tragedy. The whole community here are in shock over this. The O'Sullivans are a well-known family in the area. We are all heartbroken for them," said James Harnett from Harnett Undertakers in Abbeyfeale.

Last night, a spokesperson for the National safety Council appealed to all householders to be especially vigilant about fire safety in the lead up to Christmas. Every year, about 50 people die from uncontrollable fire outbreaks mostly in their own homes.

Carelessness about open fireplaces, heaters, cookers, electric blankets and smoking are the leading causes of fire deaths and injuries. Prevention is the key but, in the knowledge that all fires will not be prevented, it is essential that every household has an effective system to detect fire outbreak at an early stage, making safe evacuation a simple task, the NSC spokesman said.