NEW ROSS Gardai are investigating a blaze which caused a lot of damage recently to the Riverview Hotel building on the quay-front.
Though the hotel has not been open for around 12 months the building was completely renovated and refurbished within the last few years and a spokesperson for New Ross Fire Service confirmed to The Echo that a lot of smoke damage was caused to the third and fourth floors of the premises.
The blaze was spotted by a motorist travelling across O’Hanrahan Bridge in the early hours of Sunday morning and the Fire Service spokesperson said it was lucky that the motorist did notice the blaze because of where it was located.
“It occurred in the gable end of the building and from the quay or the car park to the rear of the building it would have been hard to see,” he said.
The alarm was raised at around 3.30 a.m. and when the two units of New Ross Fire Service arrived at the scene they called for assistance from Wexford station.
“All our crew members were inside the building,” said the spokesperson.
The fire was concentrated on the third floor of the hotel and was located in one of the bedrooms.
The local fire crew members searched the building to ensure it was vacant and that no-one was inside which was engulfed in heavy smoke.
“There was heavy smoke inside so we had to make sure there was no-one in there in need of rescuing,” said the spokesperson.
“We put the fire our relatively quickly and then vented the building to make sure no-one was still in there,” he added.
He also said that the third and fourth floors of the building suffered serious smoke damage while heavy fire damage occurred in one bedroom and bathroom.
“It was a gable room so it was hard to spot and it’s lucky the motorist did,” said the Fire Service spokesperson.
Though the building has not been trading in recent months it has, along with other vacant buildings around the town, been targeted by youths as a place to congregate and this week the Gardai are working at ascertaining the cause of the blaze.
When the fire crews arrived at the scene they had to force their way into the building as sections of the ground floor were boarded up.
The area was sealed off throughout Sunday for a forensic examination to be carried out.
The Gardai are appealing for information about the incident and anyone wishing to contact them can do so on 051-421204.
All information forwarded will be treated in strict confidence.
