Firefighters in Dundalk were forced to turn a water hose on a 24-year-old man who went to attack them wielding a samurai sword. The firefighters had been trying to extinguish a burning car in Marion Park, Dundalk, when they were attacked by a man who was apparently trying to set fire to another car.
The owners of the first car, Ken and Carol McKeown, said it was the third time their vehicle has been damaged since they moved in last May. Mr McKeown said neighbours may have saved his family from a worse fate.
"The fire brigade told us that if the fire had broken the windows in the front of the house we wouldn't have got out alive because it would have spread into the living room," said Mr McKeown.
Their car was parked under the children's bedroom windows. A noise woke Mrs McKeown at about 1.30am.
"There were people banging on the door and telling us to get out in case the house went on fire," she said.
Mr McKeown said: "It was an inferno when I opened the front door and my wife and two children were screaming in the back bedroom. Someone started hammering and kicking the front door and two large men jumped in the door and we got the children out first." Neighbours helped the McKeowns and their children, Josh (6) and Cal (4) to safety.
As the fire brigade were tackling the blaze a man tried to ignite another nearby car.
"He hit my wife and then me and then went to attack other people as well," said Mr McKeown. A couple of men held him back and he fled, returning with the samurai sword. The man then tried to attack the firefighters, who turned their hose on him, knocking him to the ground. Bystanders held him until gardaí arrived. He was being held last night in Dundalk Garda station.