A midlands businessman who last January suffered severe burns fighting a fire at his premises yesterday relived the nightmare when another blaze ripped through the company's base.
Garda forensic experts are now seeking to ascertain if this latest fire was started deliberately.
Anthony Mulleady (56), the managing director of Mulleady Waste Management in Drumlish, a few miles outside Longford town, said it was "very stressful to watch it all go up again after all the effort everybody put in".
Fire units from Longford, Edgeworthstown and Mohill went to the scene when the alarm was raised at 5.30am yesterday. It took more than four hours to get the blaze under control.
It is thought the fire started outside a sorting shed in the plant, prompting speculation it may have been started deliberately.
"It would appear from what the fire brigade men tell me that it started outside, which is unusual after all the rain in recent days," said Mr Mulleady.
The firm has local authority contracts for waste collections in the Longford area. Mr Mulleady insisted that these would not be affected.
However, 20 temporary lay-offs are expected following the blaze which caused damage to one sorting shed and destroyed a second sorting shed.
"It is a major problem for us coming up to Christmas, particularly as it's just under a year since the last fire," added Mr Mulleady.
In January, Mr Mulleady spent a month in hospital after being badly injured trying to fight the fire, which occurred in the same sorting shed.
Garda forensic experts yesterday carried out extensive investigations at the scene. Some vehicles parked close by the shed were also destroyed.
The Mulleady family are the biggest employers in the area.
Mr Mulleady, who sought to control the January blaze by driving away bales of waste material on a forklift before he was engulfed by flames, was one of the founders of the waste-management company in the early 1990s.
Mulleady's employs about 140 staff in the group of companies featuring waste management, building, and pre-cast concrete. About 70 people work for the waste management business.