I couldn’t save them, the fire was ferocious
Owner of Fermanagh house where three people died in horrific blaze and a toddler remains missing tells of his frantic attempts to help
Victims were mum and teenage children
Man detained at scene held as murder suspect
THE landlord of the rural Fermanagh house in which at least three people died in a fire told last night how the harrowing images of the scene will stay with him for the rest of his days.
Derrylin native Tommy Fee (57) has been left traumatised after he tried to sledgehammer his way into the bungalow which an English family had rented.
“I was just trying to save lives, and it’s heartbreaking that I couldn’t,” Tommy told the Belfast Telegraph.
A MAN who tried to save the lives of a family who died in a horrific house fire yesterday says the harrowing images will stay with him for the rest of his life.
Derrylin native Tommy Fee (57) is the landlord of the rural bungalow near the border at Molly Road that was gutted by the early morning blaze.
Police said the inferno claimed the lives of at least three people. It’s feared that a two-year-old girl may also be dead.
Mr Fee said he has been left traumatised after his attempts to save the occupants’ lives by breaking down a door and window with a sledgehammer came to nothing.
PSNI Superintendent Jane Humphries said it believes the fire was started deliberately.
A 27-year-old man who was detained at the scene and transferred to hospital for treatment was subsequently arrested on suspicion of murder.
Mr Fee, who lives less than a mile from the scene, said he received a phone call at about 7am from a woman saying his bungalow, which is in a rural lane off Doon Road, was ablaze.
“I headed straight down,” he explained.
“When I got there a man was standing in the door with his hands out and spread-eagled.
“He was hysterical, he was roaring and shouting and I couldn’t make him out.
“I said to him: ‘What’s wrong? Where are the rest of them?’ “He said: ‘Don’t go in there’. “I tried to move him away from the house as the slates and the felt were falling off the roof, and I told him he would get burnt, but I couldn’t get him moved.”
As the fire raged he and two other neighbours made their way to the back of the house in a desperate attempt to save those inside.
His voice breaking, he described how their rescue attempt proved fruitless.
“All the bedrooms were at the back of the house, so I broke a side door and a back window with a sledgehammer, but we couldn’t see anybody,” he added.
“We were beaten back by big balls of black smoke — the fire was ferocious.
“We couldn’t hear anyone calling either, and we kept trying to see if there was any movement, if there was someone coming out on their hands and knees, but there was no one.
“A crowd of people had gathered outside but there was nothing they could do. It was very harrowing.
“That image will stay with me for the rest of my life, and the fact we couldn’t do anything for them.
“I did feel helpless when I couldn’t get in to save them, but the fire was raging.”
The PSNI and three appliances rushed to the scene of the blaze, which the Fire and Rescue Service said was “well-developed” by the time firefighters arrived.
Mr Fee said the emergency services moved him and the others on.
“It was a terrible scene,” he said. “I have lived here nearly all my life, and I’ve never seen anything like that here before.
“You never expect anything like that to happen in such a quiet area.”
He explained that he rented out the property to a family who were originally from the north of England.
He identified them as 16-yearold Edward Gossett, his sister Diane Gossett (19), their mother Crystal Gossett, and Diane’s young daughter, who he believes was under two.
Mr Fee said that another man, who he named as Sam Quinn, also lived at the property.
The police have not yet confirmed the identities of those who lost their lives.
“I believe the family originally came from Doncaster before moving to Tralee in the Republic of Ireland, and then they saw the house I was renting advertised on the internet a year-and-a-half ago,” said Mr Fee, who works as a bus operator.
“They were a nice family, they kept themselves to themselves.
“Edward was a bit of a handyman, he took an interest in firewood and was learning to cut trees.
“The baby was a wee baby girl who was starting to walk, I don’t think she was two yet.
A man was standing in the door with his hands out and spread-eagled, he was roaring and shouting
“If she was in the house she was probably burned to a cinder. My thoughts and prayers are with their family.
“It was terrifying, for innocent people to die that way.
“The house has burned down, the roof has collapsed and it’s really burned out.
“It’s just in ruins — it’s just the four walls left.
“But we’re not even thinking about the house, it’s the loss of lives that matters.”
Despite his ordeal, he was back at work just hours after the tragedy. “I will just have to take one day at a time and try to come to terms with it and move on,” he added.
“We have had a lot of support from neighbours and people calling round, and the whole community has just been left so shocked. It’s unreal.”
Despite his bravery, he insisted that he was not a hero.
“I just did what any normal person would have done in the circumstances,” he said. “I was just trying to save lives, and it’s heartbreaking that I couldn’t save them.” Mr Fee’s daughter Catherine (27) said she didn’t realise the severity of the blaze until her father returned.
“You could tell by my dad’s face when he came back from the scene that he was shocked and devastated,” the student said.
“When they went down they had been expecting the people who lived there to be waiting outside the house. The fire was well on by the time they got there. My mum Anna went down too and when she came back she was crying and said to me that no one had come out of the house. They were all so young, and to think that a wee baby might have been involved makes it especially sad.
“Edward was a nice young fella, they were a very quiet family and everyone is so shocked at what has happened.”
DUP leader Arlene Foster, an MLA for the area, said it was devastating news for the community and there was widespread shock.
“It is important that the cause of the fire is established, but my thoughts and prayers are with all those in the local area, friends and the wider family circle as they struggle to come to terms with this terrible tragedy,” Mrs Foster leader said.
Local Sinn Fein MP Michelle Gildernew also offered her condolences.
She said it was “devastating news for the family concerned and the Derrylin community”.