Foul play ruled out in Buttevant fire tragedy

Buttevant in shock at tragic fire death Pensioner dies, nephew injured in house blaze

THE town of Buttevant was in shock this week following the tragic death of popular local pensioner Jack Mulvey in a fire at his home on Friday evening. Mr Mulvey’s 48-year-old nephew, Terence, was injured when he jumped from an upstairs window to escape the fire and is currently recovering in CUH.

Gardaí who were alerted to the fire used a ladder to access an upstairs window but were unable to rescue Mr Mulvey who was pronounced dead at the scene.

GARDAÍ have ruled out foul play in the death of a pensioner in a house fire in Buttevant after a technical examination confirmed that fire was caused by an electrical fault in a downstairs room.

Jack Mulvey, who was in his early 80s, died when a fire broke out at his dormer semi-detached cottage at Knockbarry in Buttevant at around 8.30pm on Friday evening.

A neighbour raised the alarm and two gardai, who were on checkpoint duty on the main Cork-Limerick Road on the outskirts of Buttevant town, were at the scene within minutes.

Garda John Fitzgerald and Garda Philip O’Neill managed to get a ladder to the upstairs dormer bedroom window but were unable to get out Mr Mulvey who was trapped in the room.

Mallow Fire Brigade were also quickly on the scene and brought the blaze under control and they later recovered Mr Mulvey who was pronounced dead at the scene by a local doctor.

Mr Mulvey’s 48 year old nephew, Terence suffered a number of broken bones when he jumped from an upstairs bedroom and he is currently recovering at Cork University Hospital.

Gardaí cordoned off the scene overnight and a garda technical expert carried out a forensic examination of the scene to establish the cause of the blaze. It’s understood that gardaí are satisfied from the technical examination that the fire was caused by an electrical fault in a downstairs living room area and foul play has been ruled out.

Mr Mulvey’s body was removed to Cork University Hospital for a post-mortem and a file will now be prepared for an inquest.

Mr Mulvey’s death is the second such fire tragedy in the Knockbarry area and follows a fatality in the adjoining semi-detached dormer cottage some 25 years ago.