Cigarette may have been cause of fatal fire

GARDAÍ believe a dropped cigarette may have started a fire which caused the death of a young County Tipperary man yesterday morning.

Paul Power, aged 33, from Irishtown, Clonmel, was found dead in a front room of a house in Charleville, Co Cork, shortly before 6am. A woman in her early 40s and her sons aged 21 and 17 who were also in the house at the time managed to escape when the fire alarm went off.

The body of Mr Power, who was lodging at the house at De Valera Place, was removed by firemen and taken to Cork University Hospital where a post mortem was later carried out by pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster.

Gardaí sealed off the area and carried out forensic tests. They quickly ruled out anything suspicious and said it appeared to a tragic accident.

“The fire was possibly caused by a cigarette. It started in the front sitting room,” said a garda spokesman.

The woman and her sons were treated at the scene for shock and smoke inhalation. They didn’t require hospital treatment. When they ran out of the house they thought Mr Power was right behind them, but only realised he was trapped a few seconds later.

A neighbour said that she was woken by her daughter who heard cries coming from the nearby house. “When I got outside I saw flames coming for the window and the woman was screaming ‘get him out, get him out, he’s trapped’,” the neighbour said.

Fire brigades from Charleville and Kilmallock rushed to the scene.

It took them nearly an hour to put the fire out.

Mr Power, who worked in a restaurant in the town was described as a popular figure with an infectious sense of humour.