Accidental blaze guts family home in Limerick

A fire which broke out at the family home of a man who was last year stabbed to death is believed to have been caused accidentally.

The fire started around 2pm yesterday in the sitting room of a house at Lee Estate, Island Rd, Limerick.

A mother of six escaped from the house unharmed. She was treated at the scene by paramedics for smoke inhalation and shock. The woman’s children were not present at the time.

“It appears accidental. It possibly started at the fireplace,” said a source.

The local authority-owned property was completely destroyed in the fire. Large crowds gathered at the scene as ambulance personnel treated the woman.

The station officer at Limerick City and County Fire Service, James Kerins, said: “We were mobilised to a call at Lee Estate and the fire was well ablaze when we arrived. It was a sitting room fire and the flames were coming out of the sitting room window.

“Everybody was out of the house, fortunately, and the lads got it under control and contained it to the downstairs and stopped it from spreading to the adjoining house.

“The fire partially destroyed the upstairs but it didn’t spread upstairs, yet there was a lot of heat transfer from the ground floor.

“There was one lady in the house at the time. She seems to be OK.”

An ambulance was called to the scene and paramedics treated the woman for smoke inhalation and shock.

Twelve firefighters, travelling in two engines and a mobile hydraulic platform, responded to the scene. Neighbours said they believed the fire may have been started by a spark from a downstairs fire landing on a rug.

The house, occupied by a sibling and her family, had been the family home of Shane Murphy, who died last year after being stabbed at a house party in Pallasgreen, Co Limerick. A case is pending at the Central Criminal Court.