A community in County Roscommon has been plunged into sadness today following the death of a man in a house fire last night. The man has since been named locally as Des Deegan, who had only been living there a relatively short time. Residents at The Oaks Housing Estate reported hearing an explosion shortly before 7 o'clock last night. One property was destroyed in the blast and subsequent fire while a number of neighbouring properties were also damaged.
Fire services from Boyle and Ballaghaderreen attended the scene and the body of the deceased was removed for post mortem late last night. The scene remains sealed off this afternoon as Gardaí carry out a technical examination. This resident tried to rescue the man from the burning property:
This woman lives just three doors from the house. She says local children usually play quite close to the scene:
Local councillor Micheal Frain attended the scene with Ballaghaderreen Fire Service last night. He says the community is in shock:
