A 51-YEAR-OLD man died in a house fire which broke out in the early hours of yesterday morning.
John Brennan died after he was overcome by smoke in his apartment in Kilkenny city shortly before 2am.
Up to 20 residents were evacuated from two end-of-terrace houses, which are converted into flats, on Wellington Square, Kilkenny, as fire crews dealt with the blaze.
Mr Brennan, who was originally from Woodville, Crettyard, Co Laois, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The three-storey house remained sealed off yesterday but a Garda spokesman said investigators do not believe the cause of the fire was suspicious.
It is believed Mr Brennan, who had been living in the house for two years, was found slumped against the inside of his apartment door when fire officers entered the building.
Neighbour Michael Hoyne said he woke up when he heard banging noises from inside the house and smelled “toxic fumes”.
“There were people being rushed out of the house, but unfortunately not everyone got out alive,” said Mr Hoyne. “Mr Brennan was a quiet, good natured man who’d always say hello to you on the street. It’s very sad.”
Two engines from Kilkenny fire services attended the blaze. “Our engines were at scene within five minutes of being called,” said Ciarán Cormacken, chief fire officer at Kilkenny.
“The fire was quickly put out and the scene immediately preserved for the gardaí as there was a fatality involved,” he said.
Members of the Garda Technical Bureau carried out a series of forensic examinations of the burned-out flat yesterday.