Gardaí investigating major fire near Buncrana
Forty-six members of the fire service were required to deal with the fire at the recycling premises at Druminor
Gardaí in Buncrana are investigating a major fire at commercial premises near the town.
Forty-six members of the fire service were required to deal with the fire at the recycling premises at Druminor.
Buncrana Garda superintendent Goretti Sheridan said gardaí are investigating the fire to establish whether or not “there is a criminal element to it and whether it was started maliciously”.
“We have not ruled that out,” she said.
The fire service was alerted to the fire at around 12.30am on Thursday.
The initial response was from two fire tenders based in Buncrana.
Further fire units from Carndonagh, Moville and Letterkenny were sent to the scene. Additional specialist vehicles were mobilised including a high-reach platform, an incident command vehicle and a water tanker.
A number of excavators were obtained from local contractors that were equipped with specialist rotating grapples.
Donegal County Council said 46 personnel from the Donegal County Fire Service attended the incident. The fire occurred in a commercial building that was used to recycle building and domestic waste.
On Thursday morning the fire service advised residents in the area to keep doors and windows closed.
The council said that throughout the incident the fire service was advised and supported by its environment section.
The fire was extinguished at 9pm on Thursday.
Buncrana fire brigade returned at around 3am on Friday after a small area of the waste material was re-ignited. The fire was brought under control quickly.
Thermal imaging cameras were used to pinpoint any heated material and the Buncrana fire brigade remained in attendance until 3pm on Friday.