Fire forces evacuation of 800 people from nightclub

TWO PEOPLE were rescued and approximately 800 were evacuated when fire broke out in hoardings to the front of the Village nightclub on Dublin's Wexford St early yesterday morning.

Five units of Dublin fire brigade attended the scene, but there were no reported injuries.

Gardaí blocked off Wexford Street and Camden Street for a period while the fire was being dealt with. It caused slight damage but the club was open for business again yesterday.

In a brief statement, a spokesman for the club said the damage "was superficial only - 800 patrons were evacuated as a precaution in six minutes".

A Garda spokesman said Kevin Street station received a call about the fire at 1.20am yesterday and it responded immediately.

The fire brigade was already at the scene when gardaí arrived, he said. The alarm had been raised by a member of the Village staff.

Catherine Leahy (21), an environmental science student at Dublin City University, had been in the club for about an hour when they were told to evacuate the premises.

She said "the staff were really good. They were shooing people out, but there was no panic".

At that stage, "the place was hazing over and the smoke was building up. There was a strong smell of burning," she said.

The staff referred to the smoke and the possibility of a fire "but downplayed it, not causing a panic" on the club's two floors, she said. "People were not moving at first. Generally they were drinking and their reaction was slow." She added that she got out fairly quickly. Some people "were still inside for ages", with "stragglers" emerging as it was "getting really hazy and the smoke was getting a lot thicker".

She said there "was a bit of panic when people got outside" and could not find their friends.