Double-glazing blamed for delay in rescue attempt

Residents of a Dublin city-centre flats complex where two people died in a fire early yesterday have blamed recently installed double-glazed windows for hampering rescue attempts. Garda technical experts were yesterday examining the burnt-out remains of the flat in Liberty House, in the north inner city. The occupant of the ground-floor flat, Ms Samantha Purtill, in her mid-20s, was named by gardai as one of the victims.

The man who died in the fire has not yet been identified. Two other men, reported to be Ms Purtill's boyfriend and his father, are in a critical condition in the Mater Hospital.

The fire completely burned out the living-room of the flat and badly damaged the other rooms. One theory being investigated by gardai is that it may have been started accidentally by a cigarette.

Neighbours who were evacuated when smoke from the fire spread throughout the complex early yesterday described the double-glazed windows as a "death trap". One said children frequently took the keys out of the locks, making them impossible to open. In addition, they were very hard to break.

The alarm was raised at about 4 a.m. when passing motorists in Corporation Street saw the flat in flames. According to a neighbour, Ms Jeanette Black, they managed to break one of the windows. One of the male occupants managed to escape by this route.

A second man escaped through the front of the apartment. The other re-entered the flat to attempt a rescue, but was driven back by the flames.

"We all heard the screaming and roaring. At one point, I saw a hand go up and then down again," said a woman living overhead. It appears the dead woman tried to escape by the kitchen, but was unable to do so. She later returned to the back of the flat, where her body was found.

Four units of the Dublin Fire Brigade arrived to fight the blaze.