MALLOW ‘GUTTED’ BY ACADEMY FIRE
Neighbours heard ‘repeated banging, like gunfire’
A LARGE section of one of Mallow’s landmark buildings at the Patrician Academy was left a smouldering wreck following a devastating fire in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Almost team of almost 40 fire fighters from Mallow, Charleville, Kanturk and Cork City battled for almost an hour to bring the inferno under control – with their valiant efforts ensuring the blaze did not spread along the entire length of the iconic building.
The drama unfolded around 3.20am after Gardaí in the nearby station heard what were described as “loud noises” coming from the direction of the school complex. They alerted the local fire service who arrived at the scene within minutes to find the upper floor of the ‘new’ extension to the building a raging inferno.
While unable to save that section of the building, they managed to halt the spread of the flames to the ground floor and, perhaps more importantly, the older part of the school.
GARDAI have launched an investigation into the cause of the massive early morning blaze that gutted a large section of the landmark Patrician Academy building on Wednesday.
Almost 40 fire fighters were tasked to the scene of the incident, which local fire chief Tony Douglas described as “one of the biggest fires we have been called to in the last couple of years.”
The drama unfolded at around 3.20am when Gardaí from the nearby station heard what a spokesperson described as “loud noises” coming from the direction of the school.
They alerted the fires service but by the time they arrived the blaze had taken a firm hold in the upper section of a new part of the building, which was erected in the 1990’s.
“The fire brigade were very quick to react to the situation. They put up a firewall of officers and were able to prevent the fire spreading to the older, protected part of the building,” said the garda spokesperson.
“We initially evacuated residents from approximately 10 homes until such as time as we were satisfied that the fire would not spread. We also temporarily closed down a section of Fair Street and Lisheen Row to traffic with diversions in place.”
The scene was preserved pending the arrival of a garda forensic examination team, who arrived just before lunchtime on Wednesday to commence their investigation.
“At this point it is far too early to pinpoint the cause of the fire and its point of origin. We will have a clearer idea once the investigating team have completed their examination,” said the garda spokesperson.
Mr Douglas said a total of 37 personnel and eight units from Mallow, Charleville, Kanturk and Cork City were called to tackle the fire.
“Unfortunately, it had taken a firm hold of the new building by the time we had arrived. The upper floor, attic and roof were completely destroyed and while were able to prevent the fire spreading to the ground floor there was extensive smoke and water damage caused to that section of the building,” said Mr Douglas.
“Thankfully, we were able to stand our ground to prevent the fire spreading to the older part of the structure,” he added.
He said the fire was brought under control within an hour, thanks in no small measure to the fact that the school had incorporated a 50,000 gallon capacity water tank into the design of its recently built sports hall.
“This was one of the biggest fires were have been called to in recent years and the water tank was a godsend as it meant we had a plentiful supply of water to fight the fire,” said Mr Douglas.
“This helped us get the fire under control and ensure it did not spread to the rest of the building.”