Members of Longford and Edgeworthstown fire brigades are being praised for their work in controlling the fire at Esquires cafe on the outskirts of Longford town yesterday.
The fire at the premises in the N4 Axis Business Park broke out shortly after 2 o' clock and quickly took hold sending flames and smoke out the doors.
Speaking on the Let's Talk show today the operator of Esquires, Fergal McGovern, said he had watched 'family men' wearing breathing apparatus walk into the building and was full of admiration for their bravery. Assistant Chief Fire Officer Tomas O'Maonaigh said a lot of people had been in contact with the station since yesterday's fire to express their gratitude for the work that was carried out.
He says it was a challenging fire but they had been able to bring it under control relatively quickly.
"It was a dramatic fire. There was a high fire load as we would call it so there was a lot of smoke generated and intense heat. It was difficult enough to get at it because of the fire location. If they went in the door nearest to it, it was difficult to get water on the fire from that point so they had to access the building from 2 separate doors. There was very intense heat at the fire. Some of the firefighters would've felt the effects of that. It can be very draining".
