Firefighters were 'just phenomenal' in saving businesses during blaze in Cork town

The post office on Main St, Midleton, Co Cork, which was gutted by fire in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Picture: Dan Linehan

Firefighters have been praised for saving a row of town centre businesses after a devastating fire gutted a busy East Cork post office.

An elderly woman and one of her daughters had a lucky escape after the fire broke out in an apartment area above Midleton's post office building on main street at around 1.30am today.

They were out of the building just minutes before the fire took hold in the roof and destroyed the upper floor.

Fire damage has been limited to the upper floor but the post office suffered extensive water damage and will be closed for the foreseeable future.

An Post said post offices services will be available at Carrigtwohill and Castlemartyr post offices and it is likely that all department of employment and social protection customers will be catered for at Castlemartyr post office.

“Once we have dealt with the immediate aftermath of the fire and assess the damage done we will begin the work of restoring full service to Midleton,” a spokesman for An Post said.

“Fortunately all our mails and parcels processing for the Midleton area is carried out at our delivery service unit at a separate location and not impacted by the fire.” 

The alarm was raised by a member of the public at around 1.30am.

Members of the Moran family, which runs the post office, escaped the historic building which has been in their family generations.

Cork County Fire Service battled a serious fire on Main St, Midleton.

Mark Sinclair, the station office at Midleton Fire Station, dispatched two units of the Cork County Fire Service from Midleton, supported by a water tanker and hydraulic platform, as well as two units from Cobh - a total of 16 firefighters - to the scene.

“The fire was well developed on arrival with flames coming out two upstairs windows over a side lane. Gardaí said the building had been evacuated so we were able to focus on fighting the fire,” he said. 

He was about to commit firefighters wearing breathing apparatus (BA) into the building when the fire took hold in the roof, and the BA team retreated.

“Within 30-seconds, the fire had spread across the entire roof,” he said.

Firefighters continued to fight the blaze from outside and above to prevent it from spreading to other buildings.

“Without the platform and water tanker, we would have lost the entire row of buildings,” Mr Sinclair said.

They brought the blaze under control within 15-minutes but crews remained on-scene until around 9am to continue dampening down. It is understood the fire is being treated as accidental.

A serious fire broke out on Main Street in Midleton overnight. Picture: Twitter/Cork County Fire Service - @corkcountyfire.

FG Cllr Susan McCarthy, who lives nearby, described huge flames shooting into the night sky and said locals were hugely relieved to learn that the people who were in the building has escaped without injury.

“The firefighters were just phenomenal. The main thing is that nobody was hurt. We can work through the other issues,” she said.

Sinn Féin TD Pat Buckley, who visited the scene this morning, said he was thankful that no-one was hurt.

“The emergency services deserve huge credit for preventing the fire from spreading to adjoining buildings, including a bank,” he said.

Councillor Danielle Twomey urged An Post to move swiftly to restore the town’s post office.

“My first thoughts are with the Moran family who have provided a lifeline service to the community for years,” she said.

“A family has lost their premises and the community a lifeline service.” 

[i]Customer enquiries should be directed to An Post customer services online and/or webchat at www.anpost.com or by phoning 01- 705 7600.[/i]