Man (50s) dies in house fire tragedy in Co Cork

The blaze was detected shortly after 10.30am when neighbours noticed smoke billowing from the windows of a property in Fermoy.

Fermoy fire brigade units, gardaí and paramedics raced to the scene at Liam MacGearailt Place, just over 300 metres from the centre of the north Cork town.

Locals had desperately tried to gain entry to the house but were frustrated by thick smoke.

The body of a man in his 50s was located inside by emergency services personnel.

Tragically, efforts to revive him at the scene failed.

The dead man was later taken to the morgue at Cork University Hospital (CUH) where a full post mortem examination will be conducted by Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster.

He was the only occupant of the property.

Gardaí stressed that the nature of their investigation will be determined by the findings of the post mortem examination.

However, sources indicated that the fire is not thought to be suspicious with an accidental cause for the blaze the primary theory now being investigated.

A full forensic and technical examination of the house is being conducted to try to determine the precise cause of the tragedy.

A file will be prepared for the North Cork Coroner Dr Michael Kennedy.

Cork has now suffered two fire tragedies in the space of less than three weeks.

On December 23, Sean Lynch (86) died in an accidental fire at his Waterpark home in Carrigaline. The property was gutted in the blaze.