Three separate investigations are under way following the tragic deaths of two part-time firefighters in a blaze in a factory in Bray, Co Wicklow, yesterday. Other firefighters were hindered by the dense smoke coming from the fire, which claimed the lives of 26-year-old Civil Defence worker Mark O'Shaughnessy and 46-year-old builder Brian Murray, a father of 13 children.
Both men were trapped inside the smoke-filled factory after its ceiling collapsed during the fire. They were eventually pulled free but could not be resuscitated.
Mr O'Shaughnessy and Mr Murray, both from the area, are the first firefighters to be killed in the Republic while fighting a fire since 1936. Their deaths prompted statements of condolence from President Mary McAleese, from Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and from political, trade union and community leaders, as well as a deep sense of mourning from the town in which the men worked and lived.
The men died minutes after fire crews had cut their way through a steel door blocking the factory's main entrance.
The Garda Síochána, the Health and Safety Authority and Wicklow County Council have begun investigations into the fire.
The door had been welded shut earlier yesterday morning shortly before smoke was spotted at the site and fire investigators are looking into whether the welding work ignited the fire.
The firefighters, from the Bray station of the Wicklow Fire Service, were among the first on the scene of the fire at the disused glazing and furniture factory, which was filled with wooden packing crates and industrial rubbish.
The Bray crew had been dispatched to a narrow street off Lower Dargle Road in Bray town after nearby construction workers spotted smoke.
Apprentice carpenter Conor Redmond (19) called the fire service shortly after 11am when he spotted smoke rising from the adjacent factory's pitched roof.
"I was standing up on top of the roof when I saw a bit of grey smoke," he said. "I thought it was just a bit of rubbish burning, but after about 10 minutes it got bigger and I called the Wicklow Fire Brigade. I told them it wasn't that big and then a few minutes later I rang them back and said it was getting much bigger."
The Bray crew arrived minutes later, Mr Redmond said.
Local man William Cox said he woke just after 11am yesterday to find thick black smoke had filled his bedroom. He looked outside and saw three firefighters using a power saw to cut their way in and enter the building.
Locals said that the door had been welded shut earlier yesterday morning after complaints that the debris-filled factory was being used as a rubbish dump.
A few minutes after the firefighters entered the factory locals said they heard some loud banging from inside.
Supt Michael Lernihan, of Bray Garda station, said that the men became isolated inside the building during the fire. The firefighters lost contact with the pair and soon afterwards their bodies were found. The construction workers, who were looking down on the blaze from the nearby building site, then watched as firefighters carried their colleagues out on to the street.
Resuscitation attempts failed and the men's bodies were covered with tarpaulins until they were taken to Loughlinstown hospital for a post mortem examination. Their fire helmets were left under tarpaulins.
The men were among 14 "retained" firefighters based in Bray who are paid a small wage to be on call in case of emergencies. Locals said that the men's deaths highlighted long-standing calls for a permanent brigade in the town.
"There should be a full-time fire brigade in Bray," said Marie Moorhouse, who lives a few metres from the site of yesterday's blaze. "If there was, this might not have happened."
The dead firefighters
The two firefighters killed in yesterday's Bray tragedy had made deep impressions in their home town. Brian Murray (46) was a "salt of the earth" figure with a large family of 13 children, say locals.
He was a sub-officer in Bray, second in charge of a station of 15 firefighters, one of the busiest of Wicklow Fire Service's 10 part-time stations. Mr Murray was heavily involved in local sporting groups and the union representing Ireland's part-time firefighters.
"He was a very, very dedicated firefighter," said Brendan McCoy, chairman of the National Retained Firefighters Association. "He would have given . . . God forgive me, I was going to say he would have given his life for the service."
His younger colleague, Mark O'Shaughnessy (26), was a single man, a "quiet lad" who commanded great respect from locals.
"He was a quiet lad, a good lad and very decent." Bray priest Fr Finbarr Mullane visited Mr O'Shaughnessy's mother Marie and said his sister and brother, Niamh and Éamon, were devastated.
"It was a terrible tragedy and it hasn't even registered yet with the poor lady," he said.
In the line of duty: previous deaths
Nine Irish firefighters have died in the course of duty, but it is believed that yesterday's deaths were the first time firefighters have been killed during a blaze since 1936. The other deaths have occurred in traffic accidents or in non-fire related incidents. On October 5th, 1936, three firefighters died while fighting a fire at Pearse Street. Tom Nugent, Robert Malone and Peter McArdle died in a blaze that engulfed a shop, private houses and a factory, says Dublin Fire Brigade. A memorial plaque will be unveiled over the coming months.
The other firefighters have died in the course of their duties while responding to emergency incidents, the brigade adds. They include Michael Liston, who was hit by a car in Limerick earlier this year along with a garda while they were clearing the scene of an earlier accident.
The other firefighters killed on duty were Timmy Horgan, in north Dublin in 1994, William Cavanagh in 1982 in Carlow, and Richard Beecher in 1975 in Cork city.
- Adam Harvey