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.

Sligo County Council, stung by criticism from local people that crews did not arrive until half an hour after the alert was first raised, said the first call was logged at 8.28am.

Following the emergency call, it took just 13 minutes for the crews to arrive at the scene, remove the three children from the house and extinguish the fire.

“By 8.41am, the children had been taken from the house by fire personnel and the fire extinguished. While the fire service responded speedily to the call, it would appear that the fire was well established when the fire brigade arrived on the scene,” a county council spokesman said.

The girl’s mother Rita survived after being dragged from the burning house by neighbours. Her husband John, who was working at the time, returned to the house after receiving a call from his wife.

Patrick Keane remains in a critical condition in hospital. He is being treated in Crumlin hospital.

Neighbours described how they tried to smash the windows and kick in the doors of the house in a desperate attempt to rescue the three children.

Meanwhile, a number of youths have been interviewed by gardaí investigating a schoolyard blaze that has left a teenage girl fighting for her life.

The 16-year-old remains in a critical condition in a Dublin hospital following Saturday night’s incident in the grounds of a Dundalk national school.

An 18-year-old male, who was also injured in the fire, has been interviewed by gardaí. A group of other teenagers who had congregated in the yard shed have been spoken to by detectives.

Inspector Leo McGinn said they have not yet been able to speak to the injured girl and were not in a position to say exactly how she received her injuries. The teenager suffered 40% burns, mostly to the lower part of her body. She is receiving treatment in St James’s Hospital.

Insp McGinn said there were conflicting accounts as to what happened late on Saturday at St Nicholas’s school. But detectives are investigating whether a crime was committed or whether the injuries were the result of an accident.

The alarm was raised at about 11pm on Saturday. Emergency services arrived to find three people, the teenage girl, the 18-year-old male and a 14-year-old girl.