Residents left homeless as fire destroys Dublin apartments

Residents of a Dublin apartment block have been left homeless after a fire destroyed a number of homes in a large fire on Wednesday night.

Gardaí said they are not treating the fire at the Verdemont apartment complex as suspicious and investigations into the cause of the blaze were ongoing on Thursday.

Residents of the block off Snugborough Road were evacuated at about 6.15pm on Wednesday.

A Dublin Fire Brigade spokeswoman said four apartments were “significantly damaged”, 18 had been damaged to a lesser degree, for example water damage, and two duplex homes had “some damage”. She said 35 residents had been directly affected by the fire.

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“Early indications suggest the cause is not suspicious. The exact cause has yet to be determined and the investigation is ongoing,” said a Garda spokesman.

No injuries have been reported.

Members of Dublin Fire Brigade fire prevention section are due to carry out an inspection of the apartment block. Six fire appliances, a water-tanker and two senior officers in attended the scene on Wednesday evening with families and young children forced to stay at alternative accommodation.

Fingal County Council and Dublin Civil Defence are understood to be co-ordinating the issue of accommodation.

James May, his wife and three children have been living in the apartment block for the past six years.

He said their apartment was flooded following the fire.

“Our whole apartment is flooded . . . there’s about 15cm of water,” said Mr May.

“When I went to get stuff from the kitchen, all the bowls were floating into the bathroom.”

The May family said they were not sure how long the damage will take to be fixed or if they will be able to return.

“I don’t think we’ll send the kids to school tomorrow; they’re quite upset. Thank God no one was hurt or injured,” he said.

Another resident, Anna Glushkova, left the apartment block with her laptop under one arm and her pet cat Pingu under the other.

Ms Glushkova, who rents the apartment with her partner, said it was badly flooded following the fire.

“The whole apartment is flooded - part of the ceiling came off too because of the water damage. There are pieces of ceiling falling down into the apartments on the first floor,” she said.

“We’re going to stay in a hotel tonight but am not sure what we’ll do in the next few days. We’re just renting the apartment so I don’t know what the landlord will do.

“There is quite a lot of water damage so it could take a while to fix and it is going to be tough to find somewhere to live in a short space of time.

“Right now, I am glad everyone is ok, but we are worried about the future and where we will all live,” she said.

Fianna Fáil TD for West Dublin Jack Chambers said: “I was very pleased to hear that everyone has now been accounted for.

“My thoughts and concern is with those whose homes have been damaged or destroyed by this terrible incident and who will naturally be very upset and distressed. Every support should be offered to those affected.”