Historic Finnegans is scorched by blaze

THE fire service are working to establish the cause of a fire that caused serious damage to a town centre hostel in the early hours of last Wednesday morning.

The fire broke out at Finnegans Town Centre Hostel at lower Denny Street shortly before 4am on Wednesday, June 17.

Gardaí and the Fire service were immediately alerted and the building was rapidly evacuated.

Three units of the fire service attended the scene – including two units from Tralee and dispatched from Castleisland – and the fire was brought under control.

No one was injured in the course of the incident and neighbouring buildings were not at risk.

While the fire was extinguished relatively quickly extensive damage was caused to a section of the first floor of the historic building which dates back to 1826 when it was built by the Denny family using stone taken from the old Tralee Town Castle.

While the ground floor cafe unit and the basement restaurant were not affected the fire appeared to have caused significant damage to at least one first floor dormitory room to the front of the building.

Windows were broken and charred internal walls could be seen from the street while burnt bed frames and mattresses had been thrown from one of the windows into the front yard of the adjacent KDYS Hall.

Some traffic diversions were put in place for a time on Wednesday morning though Denny Street remained open and the majority of the debris had been cleared by 9am.

The scene of the fire has been preserved and the fire service are currently working to establish the exact cause of the blaze and its spread.

Finnegans Hostel is used to provide emergency accommodation to a number of individuals and it is understood a number of these people are now currently being put up elsewhere while the hostel and its facilities undergoes repairs following the fire.

Photo Domnick Walsh Fire damage at the Finnegans Hostel buiding on Denny Street.

Photo Domnick Walsh Gardaí protect the scene at Finnegans Hostel on Denny Street the first floor of which was badly damaged by an early morning fire last Wednesday.