HSE staff evacuated after blaze breaks out in Cork office building
It is suspected that the blaze may have been sparked by an electrical fault in a photocopying machine.
A fire brigade spokesman said four units were sent to fight the blaze at the HSE’s Áras Sláinte (formerly Farm Centre) offices at Dennehy’s Cross. The alarm was raised at 10.53am and when the first unit arrived four minutes later they saw flames coming out of the window of a photocopying room at the rear of the first floor.
By that time, HSE fire wardens had evacuated all office staff, who had gone to an assembly point a short distance away near a supermarket. There were no reports of injuries.
Third fire officer Jerry Myers, based at the city’s fire brigade headquarters in Anglesea Street, said the four units took around 25 minutes to bring the blaze under control.
“The photocopying room was completely destroyed and there was also fire damage to a nearby corridor. Smoke damage was caused to the entire four-storey building,” he said.
It took the fire brigade nearly two-and-a-half hours to clear the smoke from the building. He said it was suspected that an electrical fault in a large photocopier may have caused the fire.
Garda technical experts also went to the scene to carry out an investigation.
An HSE (South) spokeswoman said its health and safety officers visited the building to assess the damage and that it was being patrolled by its security staff.
“The 69 staff working there were mainly involved in finance, IT and human resources. They were all evacuated safely,” the spokeswoman said.
She said all the staff were sent home for the day and HSE officials would be seeking to relocate them in other HSE-owned buildings in the city when they return to work on Monday.
In 2007, the same building was damaged in an arson attack which cost the HSE an estimated €2 million. A year later a 47 year old received a two-year sentence for starting the blaze.
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