Elderly man dies in house fire in Cork city

An elderly man has been confirmed dead following a house fire in the Grange area of Cork city today.

Cork City Fire Brigade was tasked at 10.40am to respond to the house fire at Grange Cottages.

Two units of Cork City Fire Brigade and the senior fire officer, third officer Gerard Ryan, responded to the call.

An Garda Síochána and the ambulance service were also mobilised to the scene.

Speaking to The Echo, third officer Gerard Ryan said that they were greeted by family members when they arrived at the scene who informed them there was a person in the house.

Mr Ryan said that fire crews wore breathing apparatus as a precaution while conducting a search of the house to make the house safe.

“We entered the house and found a deceased person on the ground floor of the house. The deceased person was pronounced dead at the scene by one of the responding doctors from Cork University Hospital,” he said.

“The fire occurred during the night or some time ago. There were no real firefighting duties for us as the fire had burnt itself out.” 

Mr Ryan also said that the fire was contained in the room of origin and had not spread to other areas of the house.

Sharing his advice on what is Fire Safety Week, Mr Ryan said: “We are asking everybody to check that their smoke detectors are working, that they have working smoke detectors on every level of the house, and that they change the batteries regularly to make sure all smoke detectors are working in their house. 

"We are also reminding people to call in on their elderly neighbours and keep an eye on them.”