AN ELDERLY woman was killed in a house fire at Kilcormac, Co Offaly, yesterday morning.
Emergency services were called to the house at St Cormac’s Park at about 9.30am. Gardaí are not treating the fire as suspicious. The woman has been named locally as 87-year-old Mary Flaherty.
Local Independent Cllr John Leahy said: “The town is in shock at the untimely death of Mrs Flaherty, and I would like to express my sincere sympathy to the family.”
Offaly County Council have been seeking to close the fire station at Kilcormac along with fire stations in Daingean and Banagher due to budget restrictions.
“Over the past few weeks the community has launched a campaign to stop Offaly County Council from closing our fire station. Our campaign to save lives and homes has become a reality, and I am calling on director of services Frank Heslin and chief fire officer Eoin Ó Ceilleacháir to upgrade all three stations immediately,” said Cllr Leahy.
The council’s plan to reduce fire stations in the county from eight to five has met fierce resistance from many council members.
“It is not acceptable that we as a community have to wait 20 minutes minimum for the fire service from outside the town to arrive; a fully manned station in Kilcormac would have been at the incident within 6-8 minutes. What has happened today in our town should never be repeated due to an inadequate fire and rescue emergency plan being proposed by Offaly County Council in order to save money. You cannot put a value on lives,” added Cllr Leahy.
The Taoiseach’s brother, Cllr Barry Cowen, joined other Fianna Fáil councillors in presenting the council with cost-saving proposals aimed at retaining the three stations last week.
“I’m obviously shocked to hear of the death. I’d like to commend the emergency services for their efforts this morning. Our immediate thoughts are with the family at this time,” Cllr Cowen commented. The incident had highlighted the need for the service, and the onus was on the council to retain emergency services in the county, he added.
Offaly County Council is expected to make a decision on the future of the three fire stations next month.