Gardaí were last night continuing to question a man (39) in connection with a fire that gutted six houses in Newbridge, Co Kildare, on Tuesday. The fire broke out at about 4pm at the Millfield Manor estate. Eyewitnesses said it began at a single property and spread to the other buildings in the terrace due to high winds. There were no injuries. Gardaí carried out a technical examination.
Alexander Kocot, who lives opposite the row of houses that were destroyed in the fire, said the scene was like "a chimney" when he arrived home at 5.30pm.
“They wouldn’t let anybody inside the houses, even on our side of the road,” he said. “I was deliberating with the gardaí about whether I could come in and take my passport in case it spread. There was so much smoke that my wife – only an hour before that – had to hide herself in the bathroom with the air conditioning on. She was scared for our four-month-old baby. The smell of burning is still inside the house.”
Mr Kocot said he worked in a solicitor’s office and had met some of the families who were living in the fire damaged properties yesterday. “Four of them were rented by Polish people,” he said. “None of those people had content insurance so all of their valuables are gone. They are all in a hotel for now.
“They are devastated. They lost everything and have nothing left. The worst thing is they don’t know what’s going to happen to them in the near future. Most of them are families with children.”
His wife, Anna Kocot, said she saw a man "run out of the first house and drive away".
“First there was an explosion,” she said. “Then there were flames coming out of the house straight away – big flames – so I called the fire brigade. They sent a single Garda car, which came after 10 minutes I’d say. Then another 10 minutes later the fire brigade arrived. There were already three houses on fire at that stage so it was spreading quickly.”
A man who only wished to be identified as Alan owns a house just two doors down from those which were destroyed. “I was fearing contagion,” he said. “I was able to get into my house and just started packing up. I was just throwing stuff out the side of the house. I actually thought it was going to spread.”
He said he understood the shells of the houses are to be demolished this morning.
