Updated 10.47pm
FOUR ADULTS AND two children were rescued from a house fire in Dublin by members of Dublin Fire Brigade in the early hours of this morning.
The fire broke out at 5.05am at a three-story house on Gloucester Place off Sean McDermott St. It is said to have engulfed one house and severely damaged two other houses.
Deputy Joe Costello described it as “little short of a miracle” that the fire did not result in any fatalities.
One neighbour told RTÉ News how he caught a baby thrown from a window, as the fire blazed.
“Sitting on my wall I heard screaming,” Mark Furlong said (below).
“Thought someone’s phone was being nicked… Ran up to the corner and had a look up there — nothing. I turned this way, house was on a blazer.
“I ran up, and I caught the baby.”
Costello said: “The bravery of a number of local young men who raced to the rescue of the Murphy family undoubtedly prevented a human tragedy.”
He added that the entire Murphy family of six are in hospital receiving emergency treatment. “They were seriously injured from smoke inhalation and injuries received when escaping from the burning house,” he commented.
Costello said that three families are now homeless and penniless and Dublin City Council is seeking to provide temporary accommodation for them.
A local committee has been established which will provide support and seek donations for the homeless families. The near tragedy in Gloucester Place is a stark reminder of the dangers of fire to people’s lives in these cold months of winter and the need for constant care.
DFB sent six appliances and three ambulances to the scene, and the blaze is still being battled at the house.
A ladder and hydraulic platform were used to rescue the occupants from the house through the windows. The six have been brought to the Mater Hospital and Temple Street Hospital.
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