Gardaí search house after arson attempt on Cork filling station

Gardaí investigating an arson attempt at a 24-hour filling station in the tourist village of Blarney in Co Cork have seized a number of items for forensic analysis following a search of a house near the village on Monday afternoon.

Detectives supported by armed members of the Regional Support Unit searched a house in the Riverview Estate between Blarney and Tower yesterday and removed a number of items as part of their investigation.

Gardaí have yet to make any arrests but say that they are now following a definite line of inquiry even though it may take some time to gather the necessary evidence and some work remains to be done before presenting a file on the matter to the DPP.

The fire at the Tria Express 24-hour filling station near the Square in Blarney was spotted by Garda Dave Ahern as he was on patrol in the tourist village at around 7.15am on Sunday morning and he calmly quenched the fire with a fire extinguisher.

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Gardaí obtained CCTV footage covering the filling station, which is near the north western corner of the Square, and upon examination found images of a masked man arriving at the filling station by pedal bike from the Tower direction at around 6.50am.

The man, who was masked and hooded and wearing a white boiler suit and a hi-viz yellow jacket, approached the filling station and took a lighter and lit some fire lighters which he then placed beneath the tubes of one of the petrol pumps before fleeing the scene on his bike.

The man was not identifiable from the CCTV footage but garda technical experts carried out a forensic examination of the scene and took samples from near the petrol pumps where the man was seeing placing the burning firelighters.

Gardaí believe the incident is related to an arson attack on three cars in the Whitechurch area, some nine kilometres from Blarney, last month when the cars were destroyed and they suspect it may be linked to an individual with a grudge against a local woman.

Gardaí have appealed to the public for assistance and asked anyone who may have witnessed the attack or noticed any unusual activity in the Blarney or Tower areas between 6.30am and 7.30am on Sunday to contact Gurranebraher Garda Station on 021-4946200.