A FATHER WHOSE apartment went up in flames in Dublin yesterday has told how nobody believed the fire was real as the alarm ‘went off every week’.
Walid Ibrahim was living with his 10-year-old daughter in the apartment complex in Clongriffin, north Dublin, when it went up in flames.
The fire alarm went off at around 5.30pm but Ibrahim saw nobody move
But for the quick actions of the garda on the scene, the father said things could have been very different.
Ibrahim, who lived directly below the where the fire started, told TheJournal.ie: “Every few days this fire alarm goes off. It happens all the time so somebody has to walk out and hit a button on a switchboard to stop it. This time I hear the alarm and I think it’s the same thing. My daughter runs outside and tells me it’s a real fire.
“We left straight away but there were so many people who didn’t know what was going on.”
Walida said the quick-thinking actions of a garda saved the lives of many people in the apartment complex.
He added:
We all could have died if it was not for the bravest garda I have ever seen in my life.
“Full respect to him. He is the one that got everyone out of the place . Everyone was thinking it was another joke because it was the alarm.
“He was doing everything – he was jumping everywhere and pushing doors and letting people know it is a fire.”
A man has been arrested in relation to the blaze and is being held at Coolock garda station in north Dublin.
Walid said gardaí have been called to the apartment complex a number of times in the past six months.
He added: “There are always fights and screaming here. There’s always blood. It can be so bad. I fear that my daughter will see it.
“I have no idea what to do now. My whole life is gone. My daughter doesn’t understand that everything is gone.
“We’re in a hotel today. I don’t know what we do tomorrow.
“Nobody was believing there was fire because we have to call the garda every week.
“Everything is gone.”
There were no injuries in the incident.
Five units of the Dublin Fire Brigade were called to the scene, as well as an ambulance, a ladder, six pumps and a commanding unit – eight units in total.
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