16 rescued from apartment block blaze, one woman goes into labour

Updated 10.58am

DUBLIN FIRE BRIGADE rescued 16 people – 13 adults and three children – from their homes overnight after a fire broke out in an apartment block in Clondalkin.

A spokesperson for the Dublin Fire Brigade told TheJournal.ie that six of their units headed to the Thornfield Square Apartments, Watery Lane after they received a call just after 5.30am.

The fire-fighters managed to get most people out of the building, however, some children had to be rescued through windows and another was helped from the roof.

Three ambulance services were also at the scene and they treated around six residents for smoke inhalation. No one was seriously injured.

Onlookers told TheJournal.ie that a pregnant woman went into labo10ur and was taken to hospital in an ambulance.

RTÉ News are reporting that local gardaí say the fire was start maliciously in a hallway of one of the apartment blocks.

The DFB spokesperson also said that most of the damage was caused to the hallway and landing. “The apartments are generally smoke damaged”, the spokesperson said.

(Mark Steadman/Photocall Ireland)

First published at 7.41am