Gardaí rescue man, 70, from fire

TWO hero gardaí saved a 70-year-old man from being burnt to death after getting a 999 call that his house was on fire early yesterday.

Gardaí Liam Phillips and Aoife Walsh raced to the scene of the fire in Davis Terrace, Mallow, after receiving the alert at 3.20am.

When they arrived they discovered the man was semi-conscious after being overcome by smoke and was lying inside his front door, wedging it closed.

Inspector Senan Ryan said the two gardaí smashed the glass panel on the front door, but were unable to lift the man out through it.

“They held him up and used fire extinguishers they got from their patrol cars to ensure the fire didn’t get near him. They kept spraying all around him until the fire brigade arrived and they were able to get him outside,” Inspector Ryan said.

“During all this time they kept talking to him to reassure him and they soon established that there wasn’t anybody else in the house.”

An ambulance which arrived at the scene then rushed the injured man to Cork University Hospital.

A hospital spokesman described the pensioner, who lived on his own, as being in a critical condition. He was transferred yesterday afternoon to Dublin’s St James Hospital, which has a specialist burns unit.

Inspector Ryan said: “We don’t believe the fire is suspicious. We believe the source was possibly an electric fire which was on in the front room of the house,”

He said that while it was part of a garda’s job to help preserve lives, he wanted to acknowledge the role played by Garda Phillips and Garda Walsh.