By Róise Collins
CONCERNS have been raised over water pressure issues on the night of the devastating fire that destroyed St Mary’s Church in Derrybeg on Easter Monday.
It has emerged that fire crews had to take water from a nearby stream as they attempted to battle the blaze.
The problem came to light in the aftermath of the tragedy, when it was brought to the attention of local councillor John Shéamais Ó Fearraigh.
He revealed to the Donegal News that responding fire crews were forced to draw water from a stream which runs beside the nearby old church after discovering that the pressure from fire hydrants was too low.
Emergency services were first alerted to the fire shortly after 4am on Easter Monday. Fire crews from Gaoth Dobhair, Dungloe, Falcarragh, Glenties, and Letterkenny responded quickly to the scene.
As the fire raged, Gardaí established a cordon around the area, and several nearby homes were evacuated for safety.
Despite the efforts of multiple units, it has been claimed the situation was hampered by the lack of adequate water supply.
A Donegal fire service water tanker and the turntable ladder unit from Letterkenny arrived shortly after 5am to support the existing crews.
Full article in today’s Donegal News.
Related posts:
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere
SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT EDITION TODAY
and get access to our archive editions dating back to 2007(CLICK ON THE TITLE BELOW TO SUBSCRIBE)