Families in firetrap estate say they’re living in fear

FAMILIES of a housing estate where six firetrap houses burnt to the ground in just 30 minutes have said they are living in fear of their lives.

Some of the residents at Millfield Estate in Co. Kildare are considering drastic measures such as buying rope ladders, fire extinguish-

‘We are living in fear of our lives’

ers and moving their children to sleep with them in their bedroom.

A block of six homes burned to the ground on the 80-house estate, near Newbridge on March 31.

Speaking days after the completion of a safety inspection report that has highlighted numerous firesafety deficiencies at the estate, neighbouring householders told of their fears their own houses could go up in flames and be gutted as fast as those which caught fire.

Stephen Farrell, 30, has moved his three-year-old son into the bedroom he shares with his wife as a precaution and has also purchased fire extinguishers and a rope ladder.

‘We are living in fear of our lives,’ he said last night.

‘If a fire breaks out and can possibly catch as quickly as it did with the other houses, we are understandably very, very worried.’

Fire consultants Michael Slattery and Associates were commissioned by Kildare County Council to carry out a report into the safety of the houses. They inspected ten unoccupied houses round the corner from the block that burned down.

The report, which not all residents have seen, says the houses have ‘numerous deficiencies’.

These include ‘inadequate fire-stopping’. Of chief concern is the fact that there were no fire-resistance- enhancing cavity barriers between the houses. Of the ‘ fire safety deficiencies noted’, the report found that separating walls between the houses inspected ‘are inadequately completed’.

And, the report is said to have noted there was ‘ inadequate fire-stopping between the head of the wall and the underside of the roof’.

Last night, Mr Farrell told the Mail: ‘he only thing I have noticed wrong with the house is the walls. They are very thin. You could probably put your hand through, it’s that bad.’

‘ There are often kids playing around and I worry if one of them drops a cigarette by accident and one of the properties catches fire,’ he said. ‘My wife and I were just talking the other night about what would happen if there was a fire.

‘We were wondering how we would escape. We are wondering if we need to have a rope ladder under the bed. I’ve bought some new smoke alarms recently and fire extinguishers are next on the list.’