The residents of Newpark Close and the wider community have been praised for their response to a devastating house fire which forced four families out of their homes.
One resident, Peter Doyle, remains in a stable condition in St Luke’s Hospital after a blaze broke out at 47 Newpark Close in the city on Sunday morning, causing significant damage to three neighbouring houses.
A spokesperson for the Kilkenny Fire Services said they were called to the scene at 11.18am on Sunday morning and the house was alight when they arrived.
Three units from the fire services attended the blaze where Mr Doyle was rescued from an upstairs room and five houses in total were evacuated.
Sheila Donnelly of the Newpark Close Family Resource Centre was quick to praise the community reaction which has seen three families affected by the blaze quickly rehoused in temporary accomodation.
“Newpark Close is a very good community to rally around when anything goes wrong with anyone in the community,” she told the Advertiser this week.
“At a time like that, if people are not brought ot a centre like ours where they can meet the services involved, they are geting mixed messages. Here they were able to get the information first hand.
“They have all been given accommodation and are now housed in different areas, one in Newpark Close and the other two outside. They will be there until their houses are finished, which could take up to six months.”
Although she said it had been hoped they could house all three families in vacant houses in the Newpark Close area, there was only one house that would have been ready for people to move into.
Ms Donnelly paid special thanks to the various people who offered their support during the ordeal, including local councillors Andrew McGuinness and Joe Malone.
“They arrived up on the Sunday morning and never left, they’re still in contact with me to ensure everybody was sorted.”
She also thanked the residents community, especially Mag Leahy, Jim Ryan and the Kilkenny County Council and Noel Barry and his team at Supplementary Welfare in James’s Street.
The Newpark Close community will hold a raffle at 12 o’clock today to raise funds for the fire victims with two All-Ireland tickets kindly donated by Fran Grincell up for grabs as well as two Kilkenny jerseys.
Ms Donnelly said she hoped to organise a major fundraiser in October to help the families affected when they were moving back into their houses down the line.
