A 64 YEAR OLD man died and 10 people were rescued in separate fires in Cork city early yesterday.
The body of Mr Eddie Foley, who lived alone in a converted shed off Cove Street in the city centre, was found by firefighters who went to the scene shortly before 1 a.m. Originally from The Lough and married but separated, gardai believe the fire began in the cooker in his two room dwelling.
In the Mayfield area of the city, Ms Christine Warren (22) and her two children were taken to safety by firefighters from their third floor flat in Glenamoy Lawn around midnight on Wednesday. Ms Warren, who is expecting her third child in three weeks, was given oxygen by one of the firemen at the scene. She and her children as well as the fireman were treated for smoke inhalation in the Mercy Hospital and discharged after a few hours.
Ms Warren said later that her flat had filled with smoke when she had opened the door to go into the corridor, so she had gone into a bedroom with her son Darren (5) and daughter Nakita (2). "We lay on the floor and I tried to cover them but smoke kept coming in through the window. I thought we would die and I found it very hard to breathe," she said.
When firefighters reached the flat one of them gave her his oxygen mask for a time and they were taken by ladder to safety. She was due to get the key to a new house this week and had been preparing to move. She lost most of her belongings in the blaze.
Another mother in a second floor flat, Ms Catherine Kiniry, threw her sons Shane (7) and Anthony (5) from the window to firefighters waiting below. Neither was injured. Four other people were helped to safety from two other flats in the complex.
The fire began in a ground floor flat whose owner was away at the time. The fire brigade said the fire was unusual in that the flames spread very quickly on the outside to the flats above. Gardai are investigating to discover if the fire was caused maliciously.
There was a spate of fires in Cork Corporation flats in this area last year, many of them caused by children setting rubbish alight under the stairs in the low rise blocks. Several people were injured during the fires.
The local authority made various improvements, including the fitting of fire doors and intercoms, so that the front doors were not constantly open.
The flats are currently being refurbished and turned into maisonettes under special tenant managed schemes.