Garda technical experts are trying to establish the cause of yesterday morning's fire in north Dublin which led to the death of a 53-year-old woman who was trapped in an attic.
The dead woman, named locally as Mary Cameron, was asleep in her family home at Millmount Terrace in Drumcondra shortly after 12.30am when the fire broke out. Her husband and daughter were also in the house at the time.
Many of the tiles on the roof of the terraced house, as well as the attic window, were broken as a result of the fire and the failed attempts to rescue Ms Cameron.
She was the second person to die in a house fire in Dublin within a few days. Last Saturday Ms Wendy Murdoch (48), a mother of five, died in a fire at a house in Ballybrack.
Meanwhile, gardaí are awaiting the results of tests to establish the cause of another fire, at the Ellis Court flats complex in Benburb Street, Dublin, at 7.15pm on Monday evening.
Four people were rescued from the fire at the Dublin City Council complex, which is undergoing refurbishment.
Two of them were kept in hospital overnight and were released yesterday. Two firefighters also suffered minor injuries during the rescue.
There has been local speculation that the cause of the fire may have been arson.
However, Garda sources said initial examinations had revealed no evidence of the use of an accelerant, although the full results of technical tests will not be available for a few days.
Dublin firefighters also rescued one person during a fire in a house at Western Way, Broadstone, on Monday evening.
Another person was rescued following a fire in a flat in the Oliver Bond area of the city, near Usher's Quay, shortly after 1.10am yesterday.
The National Safety Council is urging people to take extra care over the Christmas period. It says everyone should have a working smoke alarm, cover open fires with a fireguard, extinguish candles at night and unplug all electrical equipment before going to bed.
One neighbour of the woman who died in the Drumcondra fire, who did not wish to be named, said the first thing he knew of the fire was when the fire brigade knocked on his door telling him to evacuate the building.