Alert came 20 minutes after death flames spotted

THE first call alerting emergency services to a fire that killed two young girls at the weekend was logged by the Fire Service nearly 20 minutes after flames were first spotted by neighbours.

Lisa Marie Keane, 11, and her six-year-old sister Laura died in the fire at their home in the village of Ballytivnan, near Sligo town shortly after 8am on Saturday.

The two girls were in a upstairs back bedroom when the blaze broke out. They died largely due to smoke inhalation. There was little flame damage to the upstairs of the house.