A man who, along with his partner and their one year old son, was among a number of people rescued after being becoming trapped by a fire at a block of flats in Derry this morning, has said they thought they were going to die.
Richard Meenan outside the flat ffrom which he, his partner and infant son were rescued by firefighters.
Richard Meenan was speaking after firefighters rescued him, his girlfriend Michelle and their one-year-old son James after they became trapped in their upstairs flat in Carnhill.
They and a number of other residents were prevented from getting out of the building by thick black smoke in the communal stairwell of the building where a large rug is believed to have been deliberately set on fire.
Thirteen people in total were rescued from the building.
Speaking to the Derry Daily, Richard relived the terrifying ordeal.
He said: “Michelle was a getting up with James at around six o’clock when she smelled burning plastic. She went into the living room and saw smoke coming in under the door. She woke me and we put on our clothes as quick as we could. I went to see if we could get out the front door but the hallway was full of black smoke.
“We put ourselves in the kitchen and put wet towels on our mouths to keep the smoke away. We thought we were stuffed.
‘”The fire brigade came a couple of minutes later and they got James out the window, but we had to wait until they broke the window before they could get us out.”
Richard, who has been living the flat for three years, was speaking after returning from hospital where he had been treated for the effects of smoke inhalation.
He said: “They carried out a few tests. I am alright. Everything seems ok. James and Michelle are fine as well. I was the only one taken to hospital.”
Another trapped resident, Laurence Cook, also told how he thought he would not get out of the building.
He said: “I was awoken by the smoke alarm in my flat and initially I thought it was a problem in my flat. When I realised it was not, I opened the door to the communal stairwell but it was filled with thick black smoke.
“I was unable to breathe so I went back into the flat and went to the window from where I called to a neighbour to get a ladder, but there was none. At one stage I thought I would have to jump.
“I stayed at the window and when the firefighters came about five minutes later, the came into the building wearing breathing apparatus and told me to stay at the window from where I was eventually rescued by a ladder.”
Fire chief Trevor Russell said the residents of the flats had a “lucky escape.”
He said it appeared the fire may have been started deliberately and said he could not understand the “mindset” of those responsible.
A police forensic team is carrying out an examination of the scene.
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