Firefighters rescue two from blazing Trim apartment block

A major tragedy was averted in Trim in the early hours of Monday morning when firefighters using breathing apparatus managed to rescue two people from a fire which badly damaged a block of apartments. According to firemen, one young man was lucky to be alive, having being pulled unconscious from the smoke-filled building at Effernock Manor, while a woman also had to be rescued from the apartment block on the Dublin Road. Three fire appliances rushed to the scene when they were alerted to the blaze at 12.25am on Monday. The fire started in an apartment on the middle floor of the three-storey apartment block and smoke spread rapidly throughout the building. One man made his own way out of the building but firefighters had to rescue two others who were trapped inside. One woman was seen waving at a top floor window and had to be helped from the building by firefighters, while a search of the building by firefighters using breathing apparatus found another young man in an unconscious state in another apartment. He was rushed by ambulance to Our Lady's Hospital in Navan. According to the fire service, if he had been in the apartment even minutes longer, the man would not have survived. It is believed his injuries were smoke-related and he hadn't suffered any burns. Fire units from Navan, Trim and Dunshaughlin rushed to the scene and firefighters had to use a hydraulic lift to get water on the flames because of the height of the building. Given the number of units tackling the Trim outbreak, Kells Fire Service was placed on stand-by in Navan. The blaze is understood to have started on the middle floor of the three-storey structure, broke out through double doors onto a balcony and spread to the roof of the apartment block, while smoke filled all six apartments in the complex. Firefighters remained on the scene until around 6am on Monday morning when they were stood down. One apartment and the roof of the complex suffered severe damage and the entire block suffered smoke damage. A Garda forensic team examined the building later on Monday and, while the result of their investigation hasn't been revealed, it is believed the fire started accidentally.