House at centre of Traveller housing row burned in “suspicious” blaze -
The house at Parkhill, Ballyshannon destroyed by fire at 3am on Monday morning. Photo Thomas Gallagher 1402TG05
The 230,000 euro at the centre of a row over the housing of members of the Travelling Community near Ballyshannon has been destroyed by fire over night.
A criminal investigation into the cause of the blaze is now underway with gardaí treating the blaze as “suspicious”.
The scene of the blaze has been preserved pending a technical examination. Members of the Garda Scenes of Crime team are due to arrive at the scene.
The Donegal Democrat has learned that the house has been damaged so severely that there is a safety issue with access to the remains of the house. “The roof has come in and the gable walls at both ends are in a precarious state, it’s not safe and will have to be made safe to allow examination,” a source said.
The fire at the detached dormer house at Parkhill, Ballyshannon was reported to the fire service at 3.06 am and units from Ballyshannon arrived at 3.18 am with units from Bundoran arriving three minutes later. The fire had already gone through the roof of the building when the fire service arrived.
Donegal acting chief fire officer Joseph McTaggart said fire service personnel were unable to conduct a search of the house because of the nature of the fire but they established that there were no occupants.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Ardara refused permission to go to All-Ireland Gaeltacht
- Elderly woman described as “serious” after Inver collision
- ‘Moneyless Mark’ the Donegal man who plans to live in money-free community
- Sinn Féin say John Downey arrest is “vindictive, unnecessary and unhelpful”
- McGee: ‘A win could be another huge springboard’
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Weather for Donegal
Thursday 23 May 2013
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 6 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 30 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 4 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North
