Community leaps into action to save historic old post office

THE BUILDING WAS DAMAGED BY A DEVASTATING FIRE ON SUNDAY

WITH the historic building holding a special place in the heart of the community, locals in Ballycarney battled hard to save the historic old post office building in the village from a devastating fire which broke out there on Sunday morning.

Owned by father and son Sean and Barry Lacey, the small thatched cottage dates back to the 1800 s and has been given a new lease of life in recent times, hosting meetings of the local Ballycarney Development Group and evenings of songs and stor y.

The first indication of a problem came at around 11 a. m. on Sunday morning. Sean was returning to the cottage when he noticed smoke rising from the thatch.

The alarm was quickly sounded and Barry recalls that “within minutes there were six or seven lads going up and down ladders with buckets of water”.

Eventually, units of Wexford Fire Service from Enniscorthy and Bunclody took over the scene following a rapid response, and they set about removing the flaming thatch from the building and dampening things down.

“We can’ t thank the brave people of Enniscorthy and Bunclody fire brigade and our friends and neighbours enough,” Sean said.

“They got to us very quickly. If it wasn’ t for them, the whole thing could’ve been gone.”

In terms of the damage, Sean and Barry were grateful for their decision to install a fireproof membrane on the roof when they were renovating the cottage. As a result of this and the quick response, the damage was limited.

“Thankfully it didn’ t get inside the house,” Barry said. “A bit of water got down into the house alright, but that will dry.

“The roof is structurally sound. We just need to get in touch with the thatcher about fixing it up.

“We were so lucky that it happened when it did,” he continued.

“If it happened at night, we wouldn’ t have known anything about it until it was engulfed in flames.”

Once the fire ser vice left the scene, locals stuck around to help Barry and Sean with the clean- up operation and “turned what would have been days of work into only a few hours”.

“We just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who helped,” Barry said. “While this event was unfortunate, it certainly shows what a strong community exists here in Ballycarney.”

If it wasn’t for their brave actions the whole thing could’ve been gone