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Gardaí are investigating a suspected Christmas Day arson in Limerick city.
The fire broke out in the former Woodwork Store premises, in Thomondgate, shortly before 6am.
It’s the third suspicious fire at the premises in four years.
The former furniture store which also supplied timber was gutted in a suspected arson attack in 2012, and was set alight again in another incident earlier this year.
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It was a busy Christmas morning for Limerick City Fire and Rescue Service “Green Watch” unit who responded to the blaze. Four fire trucks and 14 fire fighters responded to the alert.
Two teams wearing breathing apparatus extinguished the fire after tackling the roof high flames for an hour and a half. “It’s not yet clear what was used to start it but its believed it to be malicious,” said a source.
The timber and furniture store had been operating for more than 30 years when it was destroyed in a fire in 2012.
At the time, the owner of the building, who also operated a paint shop next door, and other surrounding dwellings, Patrick Moloney, said he believed the fire was started maliciously.
“I actually got a call from a friend at first, and then I got a call from the gardaí about 9am. It’s malicious, they said. We’ve had incidents here for the past two weeks so, all I can do is wait and see what the gardaí say to me,” Mr Moloney said following the first fire.
Gardaí at Mayorstone are investigating the Christmas morning blaze.