08/09/2008
Family Left Homeless After Blaze
There have been not one but three escapes from fires across NI this past weekend.
A 20-year-old woman was rescued from a house fire in Dungiven on Friday night, aided by firefighters who helped her escape from the house at Raneyglass through an upstairs window. The building was extensively damaged in the blaze.
Meanwhile, another woman escaped injury in a bedroom fire in Lisburn after her neighbors raised the alarm. She was treated with oxygen at the scene.
The most serious incident however was where one family was left homeless after a river of burning oil engulfed their home and threatened almost a dozen other properties.
The family lost everything and two other families have been moved from their homes following the accidental fire in Coalisland.
At the height of the alert, three children had to be rescued by a firefighter from one of the houses in the Brambles area of the town.
The fire, which is believed to have started accidentally, began in a garden shed which contained two gas cylinders and then ignited an oil tank, which spread to another tank next door.
The flaming contents of both ruptured tanks then flowed down a hill, engulfing two cars and a family home.
Station commander Paul McCluskey described the blaze as "a very serious situation".
Others, including the family who lost everything were relieved to have simply survived such was the ferocity of the fire - with flames shooting up to 30 feet into the air and preventing firefighters from gaining access at first.
A 20-year-old woman was rescued from a house fire in Dungiven on Friday night, aided by firefighters who helped her escape from the house at Raneyglass through an upstairs window. The building was extensively damaged in the blaze.
Meanwhile, another woman escaped injury in a bedroom fire in Lisburn after her neighbors raised the alarm. She was treated with oxygen at the scene.
The most serious incident however was where one family was left homeless after a river of burning oil engulfed their home and threatened almost a dozen other properties.
The family lost everything and two other families have been moved from their homes following the accidental fire in Coalisland.
At the height of the alert, three children had to be rescued by a firefighter from one of the houses in the Brambles area of the town.
The fire, which is believed to have started accidentally, began in a garden shed which contained two gas cylinders and then ignited an oil tank, which spread to another tank next door.
The flaming contents of both ruptured tanks then flowed down a hill, engulfing two cars and a family home.
Station commander Paul McCluskey described the blaze as "a very serious situation".
Others, including the family who lost everything were relieved to have simply survived such was the ferocity of the fire - with flames shooting up to 30 feet into the air and preventing firefighters from gaining access at first.
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12 June 2008
Gorse Fires And Attacks On Firefighters Slammed
After many hundreds of malicious fires in gorge areas over the last weeks of warm weather, the NI Public Safety Minister, Michael McGimpsey has called on members of the public to do their bit in reducing both attacks on firefighters and the lighting of malicious fires.
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Northern Ireland WeatherToday:A sunny but frosty start for many. However cloud increases by midday with a few showers reaching the north coast, these mostly light but spreading inland this afternoon. Chilly. Maximum temperature 8 °C.Tonight:A rather cloudy evening with scattered showers. Becoming drier through the night with some good clear spells developing and a patchy frost away from coasts. Minimum temperature 0 °C.