Outpouring of support after fire

A Dundalk woman and her three teenage children who escaped from a fire at their home in Riverside Drive last week have thanked the local community for the outpouring of support over the last week.

The mum, and her three teenage daughters, managed to get safely out of the house before the blaze engulfed the inside of the property in the early hours of Wednesday morning last.

Dundalk Fire Service were called to the scene just after 2a.m, with three units needed to tackle the blaze.

The brigade spent three hours at the scene, and at one stage there were nine fire fighters wearing breathing apparatus working to bring the fire under control.

Investigations into the cause of the blaze are ongoing, but it is thought it may have involved a domestic appliance.

The family, who were relieved to have safely escaped the fire, have been rehomed. But having lost their belongings in the fire, they were ‘overwhelmed’ by the support of local people through the ‘Save Our Homeless Dundalk’ group who issued an appeal for donations of vital household goods and clothes on their Facebook page.

‘ The house fire last night totally wiped out this lady and her three teenage girls home, this family had nothing except the clothes on their backs,’ said Sonja Van Kalkeren from the Save Our Homeless group.

Having launched a public appeal for items such as kitchen appliances and utensils, and basic goods such as beds and bedding, and clothes and toiletries, Sonja told the Argus they were ‘overwhelmed’ by the outpouring of support from the local community.

‘ The response was incredible. We actually have received so much now that we really need a storage facility somewhere locally so we can keep the goods donated for when they are needed again.’

‘Anyone who could possibly help us out with storage, we’d really appreciate if they got in touch through our Facebook page or just drop into us at New and Deli, Park Street.’

She said the family also wanted to thank everyone who supported them following the fire.

‘ They would like to send their most sincere and grateful thanks for absolutely everything, they are so happy to be able to bed down tonight in comfort and safety, with a roof over their heads, and with everything they got they could not thank us enough and could not believe all the help they got, it was very overwhelming for them.’