Two men were rescued from an apartment fire in Galway early this morning.
The men, who are in their 20s, were asleep in their apartment in Shantalla, on the western side of Galway city, when the fire broke out early this morning.
Galway City Fire Service sub officer Alan Chanter said the fire had been caused by a mini-candle, or tea light, in a metal container.
"It was left on top of their TV set and burnt through in the night. It heats up the metal and melts through the casing of the TV. It's fairly common, to be honest," he said.
He warned that the mini-candles could be extremely dangerous, if they were not placed in a saucer. "They can be fatal really. If you leave them free-standing, just because it's got a metal case around them, it's going to retain heat and that's the problem."
Neighbours in the three-storey apartment block noticed smoke and after failing to rouse the men, they alerted the fire service at 7am.
Two fire brigade units arrived at the scene within five minutes and firefighters wearing breathing apparatus made a forced entry through the door of the apartment.
All of the rooms were thick with toxic smoke from the plastic components in the burning television.
"One crew put out the small fire in the corner and the other crew rescued the two lads who were asleep in bed," said Mr Chanter.
The two men were given oxygen and taken by ambulance to University College Hospital Galway for treatment.
The apartment was extensively damaged in the blaze. Mr Chanter paid tribute to the neighbours who had raised the alarm about the fire in the apartment, which did not have a smoke detector.
PA