THE MAN who died in a house fire in the seafront village of Blennerville, near Tralee, Co Kerry, on Saturday afternoon has been named as Jimmy Duffy (67), a single man and a well-known character locally.
The fire was spotted shortly after midday on Saturday at Church Road, Blennerville. Gardaí are not treating it as suspicious. A technical examination is being carried out. However, the fire may have started at an open fireplace downstairs in the two-storey house.
Mr Duffy, who lived alone, died from smoke inhalation, it is believed.
Mr Duffy was a keen cyclist and was remarked upon for having completed the 112-mile Ring of Kerry charity cycle a number of times on his old-fashioned bicycle, then cycling home to Blennerville more than 22 miles away. He was also a keen musician and played the tin whistle.
Three units of the fire service attended the scene on Saturday along with gardaí and ambulance services.
Neighbours in Blennerville noticed smoke coming mainly from the windows and door of the house and they immediately alerted the emergency service, which arrived quickly on the scene.
Mr Duffy’s body was removed to Kerry General Hospital in Tralee. A postmortem is to be carried out.