23 firefighters battle huge blaze for five hours next door to newly re-opened Wexford pub

A crowd had to be evacuated from the pub and the road outside was closed for a long period as a total of 23 firefighters battled for some five hours to quench the huge blaze at the disused shed building next door. The pub had only re-opened on Friday under new management.

The alarm was sounded at 6 p.m. and members of the Fire Service and An Garda Síochána were on the scene within ten minutes. Their first task was to get the road closed off and move the large crowd of people that had gathered back from the scene of the fire, with large parts of metal sheeting beginning to fall from the roof.

Five units of the fire service, two from Wexford town, two from New Ross and one from Enniscorthy rushed to the scene, along with a specialised hydraulic platform which was brought in from neighbouring Wicklow fire service.

“It was a substantial blaze,” a spokesperson for the fire service said. “Thankfully, it was an abandoned building, but a considerable amount of work was involved to ensure that the fire didn’t spread to the pub and also we were aware that there was a large gas tank at the back of the building too.”

Luckily, nobody was injured during the course of the event and the pub was said to have been undamaged and re-opening today (Monday). Meanwhile, work continues this morning to tear down the charred remains of the shed building, owned by local man Myles Doyle.

The Fire Service said that it’s not yet clear what caused the blaze, but that it was a matter for gardaí and that a full investigation is ongoing.