Restaurant worker very thankful he was not seriously injured in Longford blaze
Quddus Ur Rehman, who suffered minor burns to his head, arm and leg, praised the emergency services
A restaurant worker who was injured in a large fire that engulfed a Longford town takeaway and miraculously escaped with minor burns has said he is thankful he was not seriously burnt.
The blaze occurred at Pizza Max in the Ardrum Court area shortly after 1pm on Monday and restaurant worker Quddus Ur Rehman sustained burns to his head, arm and leg.
A second man, an onlooker who rushed in off the street to help put the fire out was taken to hospital for treatment for burn injuries to his arm.
Both injured men, Pakistani-born Mr Ur Rehman, whose brother owns the takeaway, and the second man were treated at the scene by ambulance personnel for minor burns and then brought to hospital.
Quddus (39), a father of five, recalled how an onlooker came in off the street and poured a bucket of water on the fire.
The water being poured on oil led to the fire intensifying and it erupting into a fire ball while the restaurant worker and the second man were inside the takeaway.
"I was lucky I was about two feet away, if I was any closer I would have been seriously burnt and it would have been a lot worse," Quddus said. "I phoned the fire brigade and I went inside to stop him."
As the fire spread, the takeaway was engulfed in flames and fire service personnel, who arrived minutes later, evacuated the building.
"On Monday I went to hospital and I had my checkup but now I am fine thank God, I got burns to my head, backside, my arm and my left leg," Quddus added.
The worker explained he is thankful to the emergency service personnel who arrived so quickly.
"The Longford Fire Service were here within 10 minutes and they did their job very well," Quddus said. "I was in shock yesterday (Monday) but I am feeling fine now. The situation was quick so it was difficult to judge what was happening, everything happened very suddenly."