Fire chiefs have called for urgent local fire-awareness programmes following the third death in a house blaze in Co Mayo in four days.
The National Fire Fighters Association (NFFA) called on the Minister for Environment Mr Martin Cullen to immediately implement the Farrell, Grant, Sparks report into the fire services.
NFFA chairman Mr Brian Murray said: "We will have more tragedies unless we take action on the recommendations of the Government Report."
In the latest death today, a smouldering cigarette is believed to have caused a house fire in which an elderly man died.
Mr James McHale (74) was found dead in his bedroom at Boradruma outside Castlebar at 5.30 a.m.
A relative living next door raised the alarm and several units of the local fire brigade attended the scene.
Garda Supt Patrick Leahy said a post mortem examination was carried out at Mayo General Hospital today. He said: "The house is being technically examined but it's too early to say for sure what caused the blaze."
Four people have now died from fires in Mayo this year, compared to just one fatality last year. Last weekend, a father and his daughter died in a house fire in Castlebar town.