'€12 saved our lives' - Leitrim couple lucky to escape blaze in their home
'The Gards asked us on the night if there were any valuables we wanted out of the house; Me and Kristina looked at each and said, 'We're both here'."
A Leitrim couple who had a very lucky escape from a fire that broke out late at night in their Dromahair home this week have spoken to the Leitrim Observer about their experience.
Kevin Carolan and Kristina Ward woke up to hear the fire alarm going off and quickly realised that a significant fire had taken hold near the fuse box in their kitchen.
Elizabeth Flanaghan, who set up the GoFundMe describes the couple "as two of the nicest, most caring people she knows who are heavily involved in their local community."
Speaking to the Leitrim Observer, Kevin said the fire broke out on Wednesday night sometime around half past midnight and was a "suspected fuse box fire".
He continued: "In the house at the time was me and my wife and two Airbnbers from France and we also had two guests that were friends of ours. So all together there were six of us in the house."
He praised the emergency responses for their swift and efficient response. "The Gards were brilliant; the ambulance was brilliant; the fire brigade were fantastic; they were just all amazing."
Kevin ran to his neighbours' house and told them what had happened. "I said there had been fire and we needed to bring everyone into the house."
He said the fire was difficult to put out as it relit a number of times. "The fire service had to cut the power to the house. From what I understand, the fire kept reigniting; they had to pull down the plaster board."
However, Kevin was keen to focus on the positives and said they are extremely grateful it wasn't worse. "We were lucky in so many ways; the doors did a good job in stopping the smoke. Also we had recently redone the roof with Rock Wool insulation which is fire resistant. The roof we had before that had no insulation at all and it would have gone up like a pack of matches. We were fortunate that it was contained."
However, the couple are still stuck without somewhere to live due to the extend of the damage. "There is pretty bad damage to the flat roof and the pitched roof. There are no electronics in the house anymore as everything had to be stripped and the fuse box actually melted."
Kevin said they had a survey carried out when they moved into the house and also solar panels and a Smart Meter installed. "There was no mention of any problems with the electrics then. We were lucky in that when we started to do Airbnb, my wife said that we should check the battery for the smoke alarm. We're all lucky to be alive and feel very grateful,"
He added: "When Kristina asked me to buy batteries for the smoke alarm, the lady in the local Centra must have noticed my eyebrows go up at the price - it was around €12 for a packet of batteries and she said, 'They are a bit more expensive'. €12 saved our lives."
He said the outpouring and of support and help from the community has been overwhelming. "Our friend Elizabeth set up the GoFundMe. The fire was a shock and a horrible thing to happen but it's incredibly heartening to see how much everyone supported us. Everyone came over and checked in on us to see if we were OK. We needed an emergency tarp put up to stop the house from flooding and everyone helped with that. We got the ESB and some technicians out to have a look because there are exposed wires etc. and we wanted to make sure it's not dangerous."
They are yet to get a report on how the fire started and said that they "was nothing out of the ordinary" regarding the amount of electricity they were consuming at the time of the fire.
The pair moved to area four years ago and "love it; I love our home and community;it's amazing. The house is about 120 years old and the wiring was done sometime in the sixties or seventies. Then over the years someone wired up the shed, somebody else wired up the kitchen extension and in 2005 a sun room was added. It was probably all of that added on together."
He concluded: "The Gards asked us on the night if there were any valuables we wanted out of the house; some of the people visiting needed their passports etc. Me and Kristina looked at each and said, 'We're both here'."
If there are any local builders who specialise in restoring fire damaged buildings, you can contact Kevin and Kristina through the fundraiser page.
So far over €4000 of a goal of €12,000 has been raised.
You can donate to help Kevin and Kristina fix the damage to their house here