Woman dies in house fire in suburb of Cork city

A middle-aged woman has died in a house fire in a southside suburb, Cork City Fire Brigade has confirmed.

Firefighters attended the blaze, at a house in Palmbury Orchard in Togher, for more than four hours this morning, and discovered the deceased woman in an upstairs bedroom.

Tadgh O'Mahony, third officer with Cork City Fire Brigade, confirmed the woman's death to The Echo.

He said the alarm had been raised by a neighbour who had been awoken by her smoke detector, and several units of the fire service responded, with 19 firefighters arriving at the scene at 6.15am.

"The seat of the fire was in one house, but it had spread to the houses immediately to the left and right when we arrived at the scene," Mr O'Mahony said.

"We brought the fire under control and unfortunately we discovered a female occupant in her late 50s to early 70s was in the bedroom and we confirmed that she was deceased.

"Gardaí are currently still at the scene, which remains sealed off pending a garda investigation.

"On behalf of Cork City Fire Brigade, I would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the woman's loved ones," he said.

A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána said no further information was available at this time.