Investigations are continuing this afternoon into the cause of a house fire which claimed the life of a woman in Ballaghaderreen.
The alarm was raised shortly after 9 o'clock last night, and the body of the pensioner was discovered at the scene at her home in the Priory Park area of the town.
It's understood the woman had been living in the area for several years having originally come from the Roscommon/Sligo border. A forensic examination is taking place to try and establish the cause of the fire today A man, believed to be in his 30s, is being treated for smoke inhalation at University Hospital Sligo.
The woman's remains have been taken to Roscommon university hospital and a post-mortem is due to be carried out in the coming hours. Local councillor Michael Mulligan says people in the area are shocked by the tragedy:
People woke up this morning very shocked to hear the news that a woman, well-known in the town for the last 25 years lost her life in this sad tragedy. I have to say the lads in the Ballaghaderreen fire station, they were a credit to this area. These situations are very sad when we read into them and the Gardai are on the scene with forensics to examine how exactly the fire did start, and people are absolutely shocked.
