Up to eight fire engines have been sent to a blaze at a Dublin hotel tower blockthat set alight the upper storeys of the building.
The fire broke out about 7.30pm on Wednesday at the 15-storey Metro hotel in Ballymun in the north of the Irish capital. The hotel had been used as emergency accommodation for some of Dublin’s homeless, though a spokesperson for the Dublin Region Homeless Executive confirmed there were no homeless families at the hotel at the time.
The Irish police – the Garda Síochána – sealed off the area around the hotel in Ballymun and said traffic diversions were in place. The hotel is a short drive from Dublin airport.
The effort involved more than 60 firefighters, several ambulances and advanced paramedics, three aerial appliances, two command units and four special units. The operation was also assisted by the Dublin airport fire service.
Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan tweeted: “Hearing reports of bad fire at Metro Hotel Ballymun, really hope everyone is out of the building and safe.”
Erica Fleming, whose apartment overlooks the hotel, said she could see and hear windows exploding as a result of the heat.
“One of the apartments is completely engulfed. There is smoke billowing up through the floors,” she said.
“The windows exploded about 20 minutes ago, obviously from the heat. The windows of other apartments are just completely blackened out. You cannot see the corridor or landings.
“I can see the fire crews dragging the hoses through the building. They are still two floors below but they are making their way up slowly.”
Fleming, a mother of one and a student, said she believed she could see people being evacuated from a few floors below the seat of the fire. “There is also a lot of debris falling out the windows.”
The Dublin fire brigade said there were no initial reports of injuries or missing people: “It is important for us to give out correct and factual information. As of yet we have no reports of any casualties or people unaccounted for.”
