A FIRE gutted an unoccupied apartment building on Lower John Street last night.
Fire raging from a building situated between Lower John street and Upper John Street in Cork City last night. Picture: Eddie O’Hare
Firefighters spent more than 11 hours fighting the blaze and roads were still closed in the area this morning. No injuries were reported.
Emergency services were called to the scene, a premises just behind the Heineken brewery, just after 7pm, and the last units left the scene just after 6am this morning.
Gardaí cordoned off the streets around the building — Carroll’s Quay northbound, Devonshire Street, and Knapps Square — to assist firefighters and to protect members of the public.
The severity of the fire meant that a number of relief units were needed throughout the night, coming from Anglesea and Ballyvolane, to get the fire under control.
The cause of the fire is not yet known, but technical examinations will take place once the building is safe and secure.
Occupants of nearby buildings were evacuated as a safety precaution last night as firefighters feared that the blaze might spread to other buildings.
One resident, Declan Buckley, said he went into his own house which overlooked the burning building.
“I could see the fire burning and spreading out the back. It looked like it could get really bad as the buildings on fire had old wooden beams throughout. The sirens went off at that point so I knew the fire brigade arrived,” he said.
Mr Buckley assumed the blaze would be shortly brought under control, but 20 minutes later members of the fire service were banging on his door telling him to evacuate the building.
“It had spread to right outside our back windows. We could see green flame in the fire so there may have been gas — there was a number of loud bangs when it was first hit with water,” he said.
“It looked like it might spread to our premises, but then it finally seemed to be under control.”
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