Families flee homes as shop gutted in blaze

UP TO 30 families were forced to flee their homes early yesterday when a blaze gutted a north Dublin shop.

A garda roused residents from their sleep as the blaze took hold of Kingston’s Hardware Store on Strand Street, Skerries.

The local officer, who was on duty and driving past the scene, began evacuating people from houses before fire brigades arrived.

Eight fire engines were called to the incident, which is believed to have been fuelled by gas cylinders which exploded in the building.

The noise from the cylinders had already woken some local residents. It is thought the blaze broke out in a yard at the back of the premises.

As flames were reportedly shooting up to 50ft into the air, it was decided to remove large numbers of locals from premises nearby.

It was mainly apartments that were evacuated as the fire took hold.

Locals in pyjamas and dressing gowns stood back a distance as fire crews battled to beat the flames.

It took the fire brigade more than six hours to get the blaze under control.

Smashed windows, a burnt-out roof and a blackened interior were all that remained.

Local Skerries councillor Ciaran Byrne, who lives across the road from the hardware store, described the scene.

“At about 3.30am, I was awoken by explosions. I looked out my window and I could see flames shooting up into the air about 40ft to 50ft. It was a very intense fire and you could feel the heat from 50 to 60 yards away,” he told RTÉ.

Gardaí ruled out the possibility of foul play.

The two-storey hardware store is owned and run by the Kingston family. The business was built up over 30 years and the family was said yesterday to be devastated by the destruction.