GARDAÍ ARE investigating the cause of a house fire in north Dublin city that claimed the life of one man and left three others requiring hospital treatment.
The fire started at the house, divided into flats, just after 11.30pm on Monday. When firefighters rushed to the scene at Cabra Park, Phibsborough, they took one man from the house unconscious. He was taken by ambulance to the Mater hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later. The victim, who was in his 40s, lived in a flat in the house with another man.
Garda sources said the deceased’s flatmate left the property briefly on Monday night and when he returned he found the house on fire.
There were a total of six people in the flats in the house at the time. Aside from the dead man, two other men were taken to hospital, and a further three residents managed to escape uninjured.
The scene of the fire was sealed off after it was brought under control in the early hours of yesterday. Investigators from Dublin fire brigade and members of the Garda Technical Bureau examined the property throughout yesterday.
The cause of the fire and the precise location in the house at which it started have yet to be determined.
Samples taken from the property have been sent for analysis in an effort to determine whether the blaze had been started deliberately, and whether an accelerant was used.
A total of eight units of Dublin fire brigade were sent to the scene and rescued a number of people from the property before bringing the blaze under control.
Firefighters had no idea how many people might be trapped in the house and were forced to conduct a search as the fire continued to burn.
A postmortem is to be carried out on the remains of the victim today in an effort to determine whether he was killed by the fire or met his death in some other way.
Garda sources said while they were officially treating the fire as suspicious, no evidence has as yet emerged that it was started deliberately. Gardaí at Mountjoy Garda station are investigating.