A WOMAN’s body was discovered in her bungalow up to two days after there was a fire in it.
Gardaí were alerted by concerned members of the community in Falcarragh, Co Donegal, on Saturday night and officers had to break into the home of Bridie McFadden.
The 40-year-old’s body was found in the hallway and there was evidence of a fire in the living room which had extinguished itself some time earlier.
There was no evidence of a blaze outside the house and most of the interior damage was caused by smoke. All doors and windows were closed.
Garda Supt Eugene McGovern said yesterday investigators had not ruled out the possibility that the fire might have started in an electric heater.
“The fire appears to have been in the living room and it burned itself out quickly. Most of the damage seems to have been caused by smoke,” he said.
“It could have happened up to two days before the body was found. . . . It appears the fire may have been extinguished because of lack of oxygen,” he added.
Ms McFadden lived alone in the house at Dunmore Lane. A native of nearby Ranafast, she was a member of the choir at her local Catholic church, St Fionan’s.
Prayers were said for her at both Masses yesterday morning.
“People around here are stunned by what happened. She was a lovely person who did quite a bit of voluntary work,” said parish priest Fr Denis Quinn.
Gardaí believe the fire was an accident but forensics officers were still investigating it yesterday.
Ms McFadden’s body was removed to Letterkenny General Hospital, where a postmortem will take place today.