An overnight arson attack on a house in Cork city left a 24-year-old man with serious leg injuries after he was forced to jump from an upstairs window to escape the blaze.
The incident happened at around 12.30am when a petrol bomb was thrown through the front door of a house at Silverbirch, Monastery Road in Rochestown on Cork’s southside and burst into flames, engulfing the hallway in flames.
A woman in her 40s and a younger male managed to escape from the building but the 24-year-old man was asleep in an upstairs bedroom. When he woke up, the stairs were on fire, and he was forced to jump from an upstairs window.
It is understood he suffered two broken ankles and other lower limb fractures. He was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation before being taken by ambulance to Cork University Hospital.
READ MORE
A control unit and two water tenders from Cork City Fire Brigade arrived quickly on the scene and some 14 firefighters spent an hour and a half bringing the blaze under control and making the building safe.
“The ground floor was badly damaged from both fire and smoke, in particular the hallway just inside the front door and the rest of the house suffered significant smoke damage – it could easily have resulted in a fatality,” said a fire brigade source.
Gardaí said they are keeping an open mind in relation to the incident. They have sealed off the scene and Garda technical experts have begun a forensic examination of the house.
Officers have also begun door to door inquiries and are canvassing the area for CCTV footage that might help them identify the culprit or culprits. They are also checking CCTV at local filling stations to see if petrol was bought in the run-up to the attack.
They hope to be given permission by doctors to speak to the casualty later today.
