Firefighters came across fatal blaze as they attended another call
A 28-YEAR-OLD man who died at the scene of an accidental blaze in a Cookstown flat was found when firefighters on another call spotted blackened windows.
The man, named locally as Nicky Brownlee, died in the property in Queens Avenue in the early hours of yesterday.
It is the second death to hit the town this week after Aine Campbell, who was also in her 20s, died at a house in the Coolnafranky estate on Monday.
The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said it had initially received a call to Queens Avenue over a carbon monoxide alarm sounding in a flat at around 2.31am, and that firefighters performing a check to uncover the source noticed blackened windows in a neighbouring first floor apartment.
NIFRS said: “Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus immediately entered that property and rescued a man from the living room of the flat. “Sadly he died at the scene. “A fire in the kitchen of the property had burnt itself out.
“The cause of the fire is believed to be accidental.
“Firefighters carried out gas readings in the flat that the initial call was received to, and low levels of carbon monoxide were detected as a result of the earlier fire in the neighbouring property and firefighters dealt with this.
“One adult and two children were out of the flat on arrival of fire crews.
“Three fire appliances were in attendance at these incidents.”
The tragedy occurred during Fire Safety Week, and is the third death in an accidental house fire here this year.
Since April 1 the NIFRS has attended 414 accidental fires in dwellings.
Assistant Chief Fire Officer Alan Walmsley said the thoughts and prayers of the NI- FRS are with the man’s family and friends.
“I have been told that he was a young man who was well respected in the community,” he said.
“We believe that the smoke alarm didn’t activate in this case, and residents of the flat below didn’t hear any smoke alarm during the evening.
“I believe that the smoke coming from the building had made its way into the adjacent building and triggered the carbon monoxide alarm. Within 10 minutes of arriving, fire crews had established that there was another fire.
“It’s not a common situation, it’s rare, it was picked up because of the carbon monoxide and during a ‘360’ (degree check) round the building they identified the blackened windows. Within seconds they had broken the door down with a sledgehammer and were doing everything they could to save the young man’s life.”
Mr Walmsley said the incident reinforced the need to fit a smoke alarm, test it every week, look out for obvious dangers and plan escape routes.
“There is a family in pain and a community hurting,” he said.
“It would be wrong of me not to reach out to the community to ask them to stop and think about fire safety.
“Our community advice and support team is in the area where the fire occurred tomorrow, supporting and offering fire safety advice to the community,” he added.
Cookstown UUP councillor Trevor Wilson said his thoughts and prayers were with the victim’s loved ones, and added that the tragedy had “come as a shock to the local community”.
Mid Ulster Sinn Fein MP Francie Molloy voiced sympathy, adding: “This is the second death of a young person in five days, there is a cloud of sadness over the town.”
Anyone concerned with fire safety can contact the NIFRS using the home fire safety check referral form at www.nifrs.org