Inquest into deaths in Sligo fire hears power to alarm system had been cut off for years

The power to the fire detection and alarm system in an apartment building where two men perished in a fire had been cut off for some years, an inquest into their deaths has heard.

The second day of the inquest into the deaths of Christopher (Sunny) Harte (63) and Sean Harte (34) at Market Street Sligo on April 22 2017, heard evidence from the chief fire officer who investigated fire safety issues in the building.

Gerry O’Malley who is now Galway’s chief fire officer said he and colleagues who investigated fire safety issues in the building in the wake of the fatal fire, also found the entrance doors to the individual apartments were not certified fire doors. He said there was no directional exit signage in the building.

Mr O’Malley told Ciaran Tansey,solicitor for the Harte family, that “in circumstances where you had a fully operating fire doors and a working fire alarm system, it is unlikely that these fatalities would have happened”.

In his report Mr O’Malley found that while there was a requirement for “a means of escape” in the event of a fire in all the apartments, the balcony which comprised an alternative escape route in one apartment was rusty and unsafe for use. He found the escape windows in three apartment were either too low or too narrow or did not provide a sufficient clear opening.

James Mahon, a tenant, who lived in the building for a year and a half said he would not have been able to get out through the bathroom window onto the fire escape and he ran down the main stairwell when he realised there was a fire. He told the jury about an improvement noticed issued by Sligo County Council to his landlord after an inspection of his apartment which pointed out there was no fire blanket and no emergency evacuation plan, in breach of regulations.

Mr Mahon said he woke around 4am “and seen flames in the apartment across from me. The apartment door was wide open and the fire seemed well established with large flames”.

He told Mr Tansey that there was no alarm going off .

Gardaí investigating the fire found no traces of an accelerant having been used, the inquest was told.

The jury heard an expert working for the deceased’s family’s legal team concluded the fire was caused by an electrical appliance in an apartment directly underneath the apartment where the two men were found dead.

The jury has heard that following the fire a file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions but the DPP did not proceed with a prosecution.

The inquest heard on Monday that at the time of the fire the property was in the hands of a receiver. But on Tuesday coroner Eamon MacGowan told the jury he had been contacted overnight by a witness to say this evidence had been given in error.

The hearing is expected to conclude on Wednesday.