A young man managed to evacuate three young children from a house in Co Clare tonight after a fire broke out in the kitchen.
He then re-entered the house and grabbed a fire extinguisher and tried to deal with the fire himself. However he was beaten back by flames and smoke and had to call emergency services.
Two units of Clare County Fire and Rescue Service from Ennis station and an ambulance from the nearby Ennis General Hospital responded to the scene along Gardaí.
Fire service personnel wearing breathing apparatus carried out a search of the property to ensure there was no one else inside, while other firefighters set about tackling the blaze.
Fire crews quickly established that the only persons in the house at the time had gotten out safely.
The fire was quickly brought under control however the kitchen was extensively damaged while the entire house suffered smoke damage. Fire crews ventilated the building to clear the smoke before leaving the scene.
The 19-year-old was assessed at the scene by National Ambulance Service paramedics but didn’t require hospitalisation. The three children were unharmed.
The fire is understood to have started accidentally in the kitchen.