The Irish Express 24 November, 2014
Young man praised for fire baby save drama in Dublin
A young man has been praised after saving a child from a burning house in Dublin’s inner city this morning. Six people, including four adults and two children, were taken to hospital following the house fire on Gloucester Place just off Seán MacDermott Street in Dublin. It is understood that they are being treated for smoke inhalation and that one of the women has undergone surgery for other injuries. Dublin Fire Brigade said it was notified of the incident at 5.04am and that six units were sent to the scene as well as four ambulances. A baby was thrown from a window of the house to a male bystander on the street.
Mark Furlong (20), who caught threemonth-old baby Mila Murphy when she was thrown from the upstairs window by her father Derek Healy, said he and his cousin heard screams for help and just ran towards the fire. “I was just out with my cousin having a bit of fresh air and hear this screaming up the road. I took a walk up and turned to my right down the cul de sac and there was a house on fire,” said Mr Furlong. “I ran down with my cousin and I heard someone screaming ‘help’. I saw a baby outside the window and I looked up through the smoke.”
The child’s father was holding her outside the open upstairs window. “He said ‘catch the baby’ so I just dived over the wall and he threw it down to me and I caught it,” Mr Furlong said.“I just put my arms out like getting a rugby ball. She started smiling at me when she came down.” Mr Furlong said the fire was very hot and intense.“I could just feel my face burning,” he said. Neighbours, including Mark Furlong’s 17-year-old cousin Aaron, ran into the back of the house to rescue the other family members, including a three-yearold girl. Five units of Dublin Fire Brigade fought to bring the blaze under control and stop it spreading to adjoining homes.
RESCUE
Those who were rescued were Mila Murphy (three months) and her parents Charlene Murphy (26) and Derek Healy (26). Also taken to hospital were Charlene’s sister Lola (3) and brother Gary (17), as well as her mother Edel Murphy. Edel was the last to be taken from the raging fire, and as neighbours dragged her out the back door the windows were blown out on top of them. The injured adults were taken to the Mater Hospital, while the children were taken to Temple Street. Charlene is understood to be the worst injured having broken her pelvis and hit her face in the fall to the ground after she was forced to jump from the house. Mark Furlong told The Express how he was first alerted to the fire.“I could hear someone screaming for help, and at first I thought someone was after having their phone robbed so I ran up to the corner and then I saw the flames and smoke coming from the house,” he said. Another neighbour, Wayne Kearns, said Mark was a hero for what he had done.“You’d want to have seen him. Tommy Bowe has nothing on him, the way he caught the child and cradled her downward in his arms so she wouldn’t get a jolt or anything. He was pure magic. He saved that little one’s life,” he said.
Wayne himself, and Mark’s cousin Aaron, ran to the back of the blazing house knowing that there were more people in the building. Meanwhile, baby Mila’s parents Charlene and Derek had to jump from the upstairs windows to escape the flames. There is a sloped tiled roof at ground floor level on the house, and Charlene suffered a broken leg and broken teeth as she fell awkwardly onto it.“The bone was sticking out the back of her leg, it was awful, but at least everyone is alive,” said one neighbour. Aaron Furlong told the Express how he and Wayne pushed Gary and Lola Murphy(3) over a garden wall and into a neighbours garden when they got them out of the house.“Then as we were getting Edel out the door the windows all blew out and I was thrown against a wall in the blast. It was incredible that nobody died,” he said. Mark Furlong explainded how he first learned of the fire.“I was just out with my cousin having a bit of fresh air and then we heared this screaming up the road. I took a walk up and turned to my right down the cul de sac and there was a house on fire,” said Mr Furlong. “I ran down with my cousin and I heard someone screaming ‘help’. I saw a baby outside the window as I looked up through the smoke.” The child’s father was holding her outside the open upstairs window. “He said ‘catch the baby’ so I just dived over the wall and he threw it down to me and I caught it,” Mr Furlong said. “I just put my arms out like getting a rugby ball. She started smiling at me when she came down. She didn’t even cry once, which I thought was unbelievable after what she’d just been through, but she was absilutely fine,” he added.
Lord Mayor Christy Burke praised the local residents for their bravery in saving the six from the fire. “The community is devastated, but they can be proud of what they did here this morning, especially Mark,” he said. “The council now have to house three families because the houses on either side of the one that was destroyed were also damaged at roof level,” he added. It is not yet known what may have caused the blaze , but neighbours claimed that the fire started at around 5am in the early hours of the morning. They described how they had heard a commotion coming from outside, and when they opened their doors they saw that the house was in flames. Christine Lyons, who lives next door to the family, said she saw the baby being dropped from the window by her father Derek into the arms of Mr Furlong. She had called the emergency services, who were on the scene swiftly. Therese Ryan, who had been staying with her sister next door to the house where the blaze broke out , said she was in shock at what had happened.“I just heard them screaming and I ran down the stairs and opened my hall door and a load of fire hit me,” she said. “We had no choice but to run for the back yard.” Ms Ryan said she witnessed one occupant of the house on the ground after she had jumped out a window to escape the fire.
Gardaí from Store Street station were at the scene and are expected to carry out a technical examination later to determine if further investigation is necessary.Three fire engines were still on the scene today as crews worked on the building. Smoke was still pouring from a blackened upstairs window even after 9am. Third officer John Guilfoyle, of Tara Street Station, said the building was well alight when they arrived at the scene.“We always worry when a fire breaks out at that hour of the morning because everyone is usually asleep and it is easy to be killed by the smoke ,” he said.“Whoever was in this house was lucky to escape before it was too late,” he added. However, as daylight broke the terrible damage to the house could be plainly seen, with the top two floors destroyed by the fire. The roof tiles of the neighbouring properties could be seen to be damaged by the fire and their roof structures and attics were due to be inspected today.The roof tiles of the neighbouring properties could be seen to be damaged by the fire and their roof structures and attics were due to be inspected today.
Although the family had a miraculous escape and no lives were lost, they are now facing the prospect of not having a home. Lord Mayor of Dublin Christy Burke, who was at the scene, said he wanted to congratulate the community, in particular the young man who had saved one of the children from the burning house. “Six people are in hospital. They are not seriously ill, thank God, but the main thing is that the three families here have to be housed.”Mr Burke said he had been in contact with the city manager to ask that he do what he could to make life comfortable for them. A Dublin Fire Brigade spokesman said the two children were taken to Temple Street Hospital and the four adults were brought to the Mater hospital. It is believed that the children are being treated for smoke inhalation, while baby Mila’s mother Charlene Murphy has undergone surgery on her pelvis. It is believed that the six rescued will all make a full recovery.
A Dublin Fire Brigade spokesman said the two children were taken to Temple Street Hospital and the four adults were brought to the Mater hospital. It is believed that the children are being treated for smoke inhalation, while baby Mila’s mother Charlene Murphy has undergone surgery on her pelvis. The spokesman also said that it is expected that the family will all make a full recovery