'People were waving and shouting onto the street,' witness account of Clonmel fire

A major disaster and serious loss of life was averted in Clonmel on Thursday night last due to the heroic response of gardaí, fire service personnel, and the ambulance service after a fire at a residential complex.

25 people were evacuated from the building at Manor House at Bridge Street in Clonmel on Thursday evening after a fire broke out at the apartment complex.

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Residents were standing on their balconies appealing for help to the gardaí and the fire service personnel as they could not safely exit the building themselves because of the levels of smoke filling the hallways in the apartment block.

“A major disaster was averted due to the rapid response from all of the emergency services and the community,” said Sgt Seamus Moran.

Jason Crotty, who lives nearby, said he could hear a lot going on outside where he lives.

“There was a lot of panic. I could see people on their balconies waving and shouting down onto the street.

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“The emergency services arrived very quickly.

"The people inside the building continued to wave from their balconies to let the emergency services see where they were. The fire brigade people started to rescue people and bring them out through the smoke and out the front door. It was a huge operation.”

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Jason said they knew one of the residents who decided to go and stay with friends once they were out of the building.