THERE WAS an eerie atmosphere around Ferns on Thursday morning after the news broke that a local pensioner had been tragically killed following a house fire at his Main Street home. Paddy Colfer was just weeks away from his 82nd birthday when his house went up in flames at around 6 a.m. on Thursday morning.
Emergency services were immediately called to the scene, but it is believed that Paddy had already passed away due to smoke inhilation. His body was taken from the scene to Waterford Regional Hospital where a post mortem examination was due to be carried out.
Paddy’s wife Betty was also present in the house, but managed to escape the incident with her life. Having discovered the fire, Betty ran outside into the street for help where she came across a motorist getting petrol at the station across the road. The man twice attempted to get into the house to get Paddy out, however, the smoke was too much and he was unable to get in.
Betty was rushed to Wexford General Hospital where she was said to be in a stable condition. In a tragic twist of fate, it was Betty’s 83rd birthday on the day of the fire that claimed the life of her beloved Paddy.
A statement from Wexford Fire Service said that two units responded to the call, arriving at the scene at 06.18 a.m. They found a large fire had developed in the kitchen of the house. They entered the house to fight the fire and managed to contain it and prevent it from spreading further.
The statement went on to say: “One body was found during the search and rescue operations and was later removed from the house. Wexford County Fire Service wish to extend their sympathies to the family at this difficult time.”
The Main Street in Ferns was quiet as firefighters cleared the house of smoke and a Garda forensic team moved in to carry out their examination. Two large white screens were erected on either side of the house so that members of the public who were moving in and out of the Apple Green Service Station and on the road outside could not see in at the devastation caused. All of the windows at the Colfers’ home were left flung open in a bid to clear it of smoke and tired looking firefighters, their faces blackened from fighting the blaze, sat and drank bottles of water on the windowsill while the forensic team moved in and out.
Just outside of the cordon, nephews of the deceased looked on in disbelief waiting for news of their late uncle. “It’s an awful situation,” one of them said. “They haven’t determined what happened yet.”
Of their aunt, they said: “They took her down to the hospital in Wexford. At the moment, she’s comfortable.”
At that moment, the men were called away by a member of the Garda forensic team who had just emerged from the house. As people queued up inside the Petrol Station across the road, the fire was on the tip of everyone’s tongue; the gazes of each customer firmly fixed on the charred house across the road as staff explained that one man had lost his life. The petrol station was forced to shut up for a time during the morning for safety reasons, but it had re-opened after the blaze had been put out and while emergency services were finishing up at the scene. There was, however, a reduced footfall at the shop due to traffic diversions in place.
With a diversion already in place on the Wexford side of Ferns, there was already some traffic heading into the village as motorists made their way towards Dublin. Roadworks taking place just before the village have resulted in traffic being diverted up towards the square, and due to the fire, a further diversion was in place, Gardaí sending traffic up Upper Main Street and around to come out at the far side of Ferns. This added to the eerie quietness around the village as locals gathered outside the shops to express their shock at the morning’s incidents.
This is the second blaze to engulf a building on Lower Main Street in Ferns this year. Earlier this year, a neighbouring building just two doors up from Paddy Colfer’s house went up in flames. Richie’s Pub, which hadn’t been open for business for about 15 years, went up in flames in April of this year. Emergency services were called when smoke was spotted emerging from the building at around 6 p.m. on a Saturday evening. The property was left badly smoke damaged.
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The scene at Main Street, Ferns where Paddy Colfer lost his life just weeks before his 82 birthday.