Barbecue fire destroys homes

Three fires were damaged in the incident

A smouldering disposable barbecue has left three families in County Armagh homeless after it set fire to two plastic oil tanks.

No-one was hurt in the incident in Village Walk, Portadown, but three houses were destroyed after the barbecue was thrown away by one of the homeowners.

He put it in his plastic bin next to his oil tank on Sunday morning, thinking it was harmless.

The blaze was so fierce that one of the homeowners noticed it from a train station a mile away.

"It is just unbelievable," said Gregory Hamill.

"I arrived at the station and looked up at the house and I saw a fire.

Appeal

"The last thing you think of is that it could be your house, but strangely, I did think it was my house and of course when I arrived on the scene, the row of houses was burning.

"It happened so quickly, all you can do is stand and watch, there is nothing else you can do."

Residents had time to move to safety just before the oil tanks caught fire.

Victor Spence of the Fire Brigade said it could have been much worse.

"We could have been looking at loss of life if it had occurred during the night time, but thankfully nobody was hurt or injured," he said.

"I would like to appeal for people to dispose of their barbecues carefully and leave sufficient time for the charcoal to cool down."

The fire, which is being treated as accidental, was started at the back of the house belonging to a family of four who are now homeless.

The three damaged houses will probably need to be demolished, possibly along with an adjoining fourth property.