Man held as fire guts homes

A bank account has been set up for donations to help the families affected by the fire which extensively damaged six houses in Kildare on Tuesday afternoon.

Gardaí were last night continuing to question a 39- year-old man, arrested just a few hours after the blaze broke out at Millfield Manor estate in Newbridge at approximately 4pm.

No one was injured in the fire and everyone inside the houses was accounted for. Locals said the strong winds appeared to spread the flames quickly from the house in which the fire appeared to start initially.

By the time the blaze was extinguished almost every part of the six homes had been destroyed.

A number of the families, several of them Polish, were accommodated at the nearby Keadean Hotel overnight on Tuesday.

There, one of the residents, Wlodek Blachnio, told RTÉ: “I left everything I had in my house. I now have only my passport and my mobile phone. That is all.”

From 11pm on Tuesday, donations of clothes, including some new items, as well as other items such as towels, toiletries and blankets, began to be dropped off by members of the public at the local Ryston Sports and Social club in Newbridge.

The bank account, set up yesterday to take donations, is: Permanent TSB — Millfield Fire Fund — Account Number 6452-417-2540.

It is understood that cash donations can be made in the Parish Office in Newbridge.

Yesterday morning, gardaí and members of Kildare County Council were able to gain access to assess the scene.

The man arrested on Tuesday evening was held at Newbridge Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.

He was still in custody at the time of going to press.

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