“We are homeless”. That was the remark made by Tom Hendy after his Castlebridge home was destroyed in a house fire last Monday evening, January 13th.
The Bray man who has been living in Wexford for 13 years received minor injuries in the fire when he attempted to extinguish the fire by himself using an old coat. He was conveyed to Wexford General Hospital, but revealed that he was primarily suffering from “deep shock” following the incident.
The fire broke out early Monday evening shortly before 5p.m. Mr Hendy was in the garden shed “pottering around working on a few bits” for approximately 15 minutes when he noted an orange glow coming through the kitchen window.
“At first I assumed it was a light from the lamp that on the kitchen table, but it struck me that it was too orange to be just a light”, said Mr Hendy.
He continued: “I ran across to the house and by the time I got in there the flames were as tall as myself. Thankfully my wife and son were in town shopping at the time. I had lit the fire and put up the safety guard, but something must have fallen out of it and a throw that was hanging over an armchair beside the fire went up in flames.”
The timber floorboards and a big antique kitchen table that was covered by an oilcloth were also ignited, according to Mr Hendy who tried to contain the blaze using an old coat.
“Two of the windows exploded and at that point I realised that I had to get out”, he said.
However, he later attempted to re-enter the house but was forced back by the strength of the flames.
“I slipped at one stage, probably because of the kind of boots I was wearing. It was terrifying to be honest. I had heard a lot about fires, but I had never really seen one.”
A neighbour had in the meantime called the emergency services.
Assistant Chief Fire Officer Ray Murphy said that the fire service was alerted at 16.53p.m. and upon arrival at the scene it was apparent that “a substantial fire had already engulfed the whole roof of the house”.