Cork city blaze forces evacuation of apartment block

An apartment block had to be evacuated but there were no injuries following a fire that started in a derelict house in Blackpool last night and threatened to spread to adjoining properties.

Residents of Roman Court, which has an entrance on both Upper and Lower John St, said fire officers asked them to evacuate the building because of heavy smoke in the area.

Rob Kelleher, Atila Berardinelli and Tríona Ní Mhurchadha were among those who adjoined to nearby Pa Johnson’s pub while six units of Cork city fire service fought for several hours to bring the blaze under control after the alarm was raised around 7pm.

“We had a gas canister on the balcony so they took that away,” Rob said. The three said they had family and friends in the city to stay with overnight.

The owner of the apartment block, who did not wish to be named, said up to 20 people were staying there.

William Paul Dowling, who was enjoying the music in Pa Johnson’s, said it was his childhood home, no 22, that had caught fire. However he now lives in Carrigaline and was not distressed. His friend Frank Deasy said there were a number of storage units in the area.

The cause of the fire was not clear last night.