Creeslough explosion: First paramedic on scene feared service station would blow up
A member of the Gardaí lays flowers she was given by a member of the public at the scene of an explosion at Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday. Picture: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
The first paramedic on the scene of the Creeslough explosion has told how he feared the Apple Green Service Station would blow up.
Regional Advanced Paramedic Supervisor Brian Ó Fearraigh was in the first ambulance that arrived on the scene of the explosion last Friday, that took the lives of 10 locals.
Brian told how his team got a call just after 3.15pm and were on the scene very quickly.
But his fears grew after he arrived on the scene to find dozens of locals trying to help clear the debris and recover people from the wreckage.
“Health and safety was very much front of mind. We didn’t know if the power was off, we didn’t know if the gas was off.
"I was very concerned about the location, in a petrol station. I’d say there were about 200 people helping us that day... but if anything further were to happen, we would have lost them too.
“We had to ask the public to stand back. We didn’t do that until the fire brigades and the Gardaí arrived and we set up a command centre...but we had to keep people back for safety.”
Brian told Raidió na Gaeltachta that the scene when they arrived was "like something you’d see on TV, it was unbelievable.”
He added: “The local people were doing tremendous work when we arrived, trying to clear the debris and clear the road. As soon as we arrived on the scene, patients started walking towards us, and local people were carrying the injured towards us.
“We set up a triage system there on the road... We weren’t too concerned about the walking wounded, but the people who were on the ground and couldn’t move... they were the ones who most needed our help.
Meanwhile, two men from Co Donegal have spoken of their frantic efforts to rescue people caught up in the explosion.
Colin Kilpatrick was just metres from the petrol station in Creeslough when the blast ripped through the building on Friday. The impact of the explosion knocked him over.
“I was making a delivery at the creamery when the explosion happened and I fell over but I presumed the lorry or the trailer had a problem, that there was a blow-out in the tyre,” he told the PA news agency.
“I got out of the lorry and saw the shop and then I knew what happened. We ran to the shop and there was a young girl there and she was squealing that her sisters or friends were still inside.
“We got her across the road then went back and there was a man stuck under the door. I shouted for the jack of a car and we got the door off him.
“We couldn’t lift it without the jack; you think you are strong but we couldn’t move it. We stayed with him until the ambulance came just to comfort him.”
Mr Kilpatrick and fellow Donegal man Bernard McGinley, among many others, worked for hours lifting heavy debris to free people trapped underneath.
One of the men Mr Kilpatrick helped remove from the scene, James O’Flaherty, tragically passed away.
“We just kept working to get people out — between everyone it was a big help,” Mr Kilpatrick added.
“We took lorries up and worked right through until everyone was out.
“We got the girl out and two men and spent hours moving stuff to clear the exit.”
He said the scene was difficult to describe.
“I would say when we got the young girl out first the reality hit and you are thinking, this is a petrol station too so you’re waiting for a bang at the same time. So it’s just unreal, just as they say, like a movie,” he added.
“We are sore and taking pain killers because we worked and pulled at heavy stuff we are not used to. I was lifting heavy blocks and not even thinking about it.
“Everyone was taking turns to get stuff moved out of the way.”
Mr Kilpatrick and Mr McGinlay met Archbishop Eamon Martin on Monday, who visited the scene in Creeslough.
Mr McGinlay, who appeared within minutes of the explosion, said he arrived at a scene of “total and utter carnage”.
“There were people walking about dazed, people injured, people frantically looking for friends and partners. It was unimaginable. There were cars blown across the forecourt, people trapped,” he added.
“There were fatalities almost instantly.
“On the forecourt it was straightforward. Most people were trapped and it was a matter of taking debris off them and we put them in cars and helped them up. They had broken limbs.
“Inside it was a different scenario.”
Mr McGinlay’s daughter works in the shop during the summer holidays and at weekends, but was not working at the time of the explosion.
“It hit me that my daughter could have been there,” he added.
“I knew everyone in the shop. It hits hard.
“The first man Colin tried to rescue died in his arms. My memory is better because it is rescuing a little girl and she is OK. That’s what I will hang on to.
Mr McGinlay said he does not know how the small community will recover from the devastation.
“This little village will need help for a long time and the severity is so far-reaching,” he added.
“We don’t have anywhere to get a carton of milk, or a loaf of bread. It’s just devastating.
“People have been ringing me from everywhere asking what can they do. Everyone wants to help so a structure needs to be put in place as to how we help everyone and help this community recover.”
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