Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
FAMILY WIPED OUT
Man, 27, arrested as three die in fire and baby girl remains missing
A BABY girl is one of three generations of a family feared dead after a fire ripped through a house yesterday morning.
A grandmother, her son, daughter, daughter’s partner and granddaughter had been living in the bungalow in Derrylin, Co Fermanagh.
A 27-year-old man arrested at the scene was being questioned on suspicion of murder last night after three bodies were recovered.
A police spokeswoman said: “At this time we believe the fire was started deliberately.”
Alex Baird said: “I got a call to say there was a fire on the outskirts of the village and there were fatalities.
“As a result, I started to make enquiries and, surprisingly enough in what is essentially a tight little area, it has been difficult to get information.
“I now understand the family moved in within the last couple of years to the area but I’m told they kept very much to themselves. That’s about as much as we know about them. I have heard, second hand, there were children.
“Derrylin is a good community. I don’t recollect anything like this happening in the area. People will feel for the folk concerned and their extended family.”
Fire crews from Lisnaskea and Enniskillen worked to put out the blaze and were on the scene for much of the day. The lane to the house was cordoned off by the PSNI while forensics and detectives gathered vital clues as to what happened.
But the farmstead, which was on a rural hilltop, could be seen from much of the surrounding countryside.
The roof of the bungalow had collapsed and smoke could still be seen rising from the embers in the early afternoon. A Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service spokesman expressed sympathy with the family, friends and local community.
He added: “At least three people have died. NIFRS received a call at 7.14am to a house fire in Doon Road, Derrylin, Co Fermanagh.
“Firefighters dealt with a well-developed fire in a detached bungalow.”
Emergency services were still at the scene last night. Commander Humphries said police were called to the property at around 7.20am but believe the fire started in the early hours of the morning.
She appealed for anyone “travelling through Derrylin between midnight and the time the fire broke out” to contact the PSNI on 101, quoting reference number 179 27/02/18.