The station officer of Ballymoney fire station choked back tears yesterday as he recalled the efforts made to save the three Quinn brothers trapped inside their petrol-bombed home in the Co Antrim town on July 12th, 1998.
Mr Charles McAuley was giving evidence at the Belfast Crown Court trial, sitting in Coleraine, of Mr Garfield Gilmour (24), from Newhill, Ballymoney, who denies the murders of Richard (11), Mark (10) and Jason Quinn, aged nine.
Mr McAuley told the court that when his men arrived at the Quinn home its front door was open and the house was already ablaze. Told that children were trapped inside, he first sent in two of his crew, then two others, all using breathing gear, to search for the boys.
Mr McAuley described how within moments of entering the house one team returned with the body of a child. He said he took the child in his arms and gave it to an ambulance man. Within a minute he was handed the body of a second child, which he passed on to a colleague. He took the body of the third boy to the ambulance himself.
The firefighters said the smoke was so dense they had to crawl on their hands on knees to search for the children. One child, lying face down, was found crouching behind the doorway of his bedroom, while his brothers were discovered in their mother's room across the landing. After hearing their evidence, trial judge Lord Justice Mccollum praised the bravery of the firemen and their efforts to save the Quinn boys. He said despite the tragedy the crews, in their courage and dedication, did their best and "could have done no more".
The court also heard yesterday that when arrested at his Newhill Park home in Ballymoney, Mr Gilmour and a woman in the house handed over a machete-type knife which they kept under a bed. The trial has been adjourned until Monday.