Two Athlone house fires over the past week

Crews from Athlone fire service attended the scene of two houses fires in the town over the past week, one of which resulted in the death of a beloved family pet.

The first fire broke out at a house in the Ashdale estate in Clonbrusk on Tuesday morning, July 29, with members of Athlone fire service being dispatched to the scene shortly after receiving an alert at 8am.

The crew, which was assisted by a crew from Ferbane Fire Station, battled the blaze for two hours before it was brought under control.

The occupants of the house, a mother and daughter called Tanya and Lydia, managed to escape the blaze unhurt, but unfortunately their beloved pet dog, Shady, died in the fire, which caused extensive damage to the family home.

In the wake of the devastating fire in Ashdale, Tanya and Lydia’s friends set up a GoFundMe appeal to help ease the burden on them. The appeal, which has a fundraising goal of €4k has raised almost €4,000 to date and can be accessed on the GoFundMe website by searching for the heading: ‘Help Tanya and Lydia after their house fire’.

The second house fire in Athlone last week broke out in the early hours of last Friday, August 1, in the Brawny area of the town.

Athlone Fire Station was alerted to the fire at 1.35am and a crew was dispatched to the scene, which was assisted by a crew from Ballymahon Fire Station. Both crews spent an hour and a half on the scene.

No injuries were reported in the Brawny fire, which is understood to have caused substantial damage to the property.