A week-old baby girl was rescued from a fire that destroyed the first floor of her family home in Carnhill, Derry, on Thursday evening. Seannan Ryan was brought to safety by her parents Stephen and Charlene Ryan after the fire broke out in a first floor bedroom.
It is believed that the fire was started by sparklers, which set fire to a duvet in the bedroom where two of Seannan's young cousins had been playing earlier.
Mr Ryan said that as soon as he spotted the fire, he immediately closed the bedroom door and evacuated his wife and daughter and the two other children from the house.
"The worst thing about it was when the ambulance was called to take Seannan to hospital to see if she had inhaled smoke. Thank God she hadn't. She's our only child and she was born a week ago.
"We've lost a lot of personal possessions but the main thing is that Seannan is fine and no-one was hurt," he said.
Fire officer Kevin Chester, who led the rescue operation, said the family had been lucky. "This could have been a real tragedy. Luckily the ember from the sparkler didn't ignite in the middle of the night, otherwise the outcome could have been much worse.
"The family had two working smoke alarms in their home which alerted them to the fire and they did the right thing by closing the door of the bedroom and getting out before calling us," he said.
Also on Thursday night, more than 60 people, including children, were evacuated from an apartment block in Drogheda, Co Louth. Residents of the Mill Wharf apartments on the North Quay area were evacuated around 2.15am.
The building caught fire following the outbreak of a fire in a car in the underground car park of the apartment block. Six cars in the car park were badly damaged.
Several units of the fire brigade were involved in putting out the blaze. One fire officer was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.
Gardaí are not saying if they are treating the fire as suspicious. The scene was sealed off and a technical investigation was being conducted yesterday.
Meanwhile, a Co Antrim pub is facing demolition after being destroyed in a suspicious fire. Waterson's Bar on Main Street, Portrush, suffered partial collapse during the blaze, which broke out just before midnight on Thursday.