Residents of a block of flats on the western outskirts of Belfast have been evacuated from their homes after a fire swept through a number of floors of the building on Wednesday evening.
The fire broke out in Coolmoyne House on the Seymour Hill estate in Dunmurry, which is close to the Belfast to Dublin rail line.
Local community workers said every resident was rescued from the flats safely and that at least one man was taken to hospital in an ambulance.
Local people claimed the fire alarms in the flats failed to activate when the fire broke out somewhere between the ninth and 10th floors.
One man who lives on the third floor of Coolmoyne House said he was adamant he and his wife had not heard the fire alarm go off. The man, who preferred not to be named, was standing beside local Northern Ireland assembly member Pat Catney outside the flats.
The resident told the Guardian: “It was around half past five and I had just come in from work for my tea. I heard a fire appliance pull up outside in the car park below and I said to my wife, ‘That’s odd, there is a fire engine down below.’ My wife said it must be a drill because the fire alarm hadn’t gone off. But then I looked out of the window and saw two more fire appliances rushed into the car park and I thought this is very odd.“Then a few minutes later I went outside the door and there was still no alarm going off and I went back inside. Just a few minutes went by and there was a heavy knock on the door. I opened it and it was a big police officer who was banging on doors telling us and our neighbours to get out now. He said there was a fire above on the ninth floor or somewhere like that.
“So we got out immediately and headed for the stairs. And all the time I can tell you there was no fire alarm going off, at least we certainly could not hear one. Looking up at the fire now I think: imagine that had been in the middle of night with everyone asleep, no fire alarm going off, we could have had another Grenfell.”
Catney, an SDLP MLA for Lagan Valley, who went to the scene of the fire, said the man’s account was the same as many other residents he was speaking to on the estate.
“I have to single out for praise the fire service, the ambulance crews and the police for getting here so promptly. But there is a lot of concern among the residents here about the fire alarms. While we are thankful there were no serious injuries or anything even more tragic it’s clear there will have to be an investigation into the residents’ claims those alarms did not activate,” he said.
Hundreds of residents were being cared for in the local community hall operated by the Seymour Hill and Conway Community residents association.
Julie Ann Jackson from the association said the fire broke out in the flat of a man in his 50s who lived alone, who was able to alert other people in the building about the fire.
Recalling the tragedy of the tower block inferno in west London earlier this year, Jackson said: “I think they were shook up from Grenfell, and after tonight they are really shook up.”
She added that there had recently been safety drills carried out at the flats complex in the light of the Grenfell disaster in June.
The tower block in Belfast is run by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, the body in control of public housing throughout the region. It has launched an investigation into the incident.
John McPoland, a spokesman for the ambulance service of Northern Ireland, said: “The flats were evacuated by the fire service. They went in and were extinguishing the fire in a flat believed to be on the ninth floor. It appears that everyone has been evacuated.
“Northern Ireland ambulance service were called to the scene at 17.35 by fire and rescue. They dispatched five ambulance and emergency crew, five rapid response paramedics, nine ambulance officers, a doctor and two heart paramedics.”