Rats may be to blame for £500,000 blaze

January 1993

Rats chewing through electrical cables may be to blame for the big fire which razed a Bunclody car showroom last week. That is one of several theories currently being investigated by insurance experts who picked their way through the ruins of Buttle Mahon McPhillips on Thursday morning last.

The Wednesday evening outbreak of fire left only the walls standing at the premises on the Carrigduff Road at the County Carlow end of town, but firemen prevented the flames spreading to neighbouring buildings. Frantic efforts by the firemen and local volunteers also salvaged one Rover car from the building. However, this still left three brand new jeeps, worth up to £35,000 each, and a car to be completely destroyed by the fire.

One Buttle Mahon McPhillips executive estimated the cost of the fire to be in the region of half a million pounds. However, the company’s machinery yard on the other side of the Carlow Road was unaffected by the blaze, and no job losses are expected.

‘We are closed to the public this week,’ stated financial controller Billy Harpur, who emphasised that there would be no lay-offs among the seven staff. ‘But we hope to be open as normal again next week.’

Bunclody Fire Brigade was first to respond when the alarm was raised at about 8.25 p.m. last Wednesday evening.

There was a brief delay while they broke security locks on the closed building and began to tackle the blaze with water from the nearby Clody River.

The Bunclody firefighters were soon joined by two units from Tullow, but they could not prevent the outbreak from taking a fierce hold. Three houses on the opposite side of the road were evacuated as a safety precaution, and windows in the firm’s other premises cracked because of the heat.

Gardaí had to stop traffic passing along the Bunclody to Carlow road for over an hour, as thick black smoke filled the air. Firefighters remained at the scene until after one o’clock in the morning, as Co. Carlow fire chiefs directed their operations.

It is believed that the fire may have started somewhere in the parts department, probably in the basement, and it rapidly took hold. Flammable substances in the area included detergents, oils, and the timber shelving which was used to pigeon-hole the various parts.

Both insurance and Garda investigators examined the ruined showroom, but no conclusion as to the precise cause of the disaster has been made public.

The company was the newly appointed Rover dealership for the area and they have assured customers that they will be offering a resumed service within days.

The Buttle family acquired the Mahon McPhillips Bunclody operation, formerly Collier’s, a couple of years ago.