Elderly man escorted to safety during malicious Main Street fire

AN elderly man in his 90s escaped serious injury after an arson attack engulfed town centre premises in Coalisland on Tuesday.

There was a palpable sense of shock and anger in the town after Main Street’s oldest resident was evacuated from his home suffering from smoke inhalation. The pensioner was treated by paramedics and was not conveyed to hospital.

The blaze was started in an empty house on Tuesday afternoon shortly after 2pm at the back of what was formerly Herron’s drapery shop and living quarters. The building was completely gutted and destroyed internally.

The flames also spread to an adjoining building causing extensive smoke damage to offices with timber joists scorched and the roof badly damaged. Dramatic footage appeared online showing smoke billowing from the roofs of two buildings on Main Street while slates fell to the pavement below.

Four fire engines and police attended the scene and a number of commercial premises were evacuated, as emergency services dealt with the blaze.

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Enquiries are continuing to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident, and the fire is being treated as deliberate.

Yesterday (Wednesday) as the clear-up operation began, the extent of the destruction to the house and the offices next door (now closed) became apparent as a strong smell of smoke continued to hang in the air.

Staff were evacuated from businesses along the street during the incident. In the Boyz to Men Barbers next door, on the other side of the house where the fire was ignited, the staff moved chairs and equipment onto the street lest they get damagedby the inferno.

Tiernan Duffy, who is a barber in the family business said, “We were told to ‘get out’ and took the chairs and sofas out in case the fire spread to our building too. The firemen went around the back and only for them this place would have went up as well. They helped the elderly man up the street, with his carer, from his home as well.

“Everyone went across to the Cornmill car park and watched and hoped the blaze wouldn’t spread any more. It was a big fire. Only for the fire brigade the whole street would have gone up in flames. There is still a smell of smoke in the air.”

Boyz 2 Men barbers and other businesses got the go-ahead to open yesterday morning. However the seat of the fire at Herrons was still smoldering while the offices next door will need extensive repair.

Mid Ulster MLA Linda Dillon described the arson attack as “deeply distressing for people who owns premises on the street.” She urged anyone with information to bring it forward.

“Someone could have been seriously injured or killed,” said Mrs Dillon. “Business people have already had to struggle with rising costs and coming through the pandemic. Their businesses could have been destroyed.

“The people who did this come from our community. They need to look at themselves and ask why they would to do this to their community and potentially harm people”.

Police have appealed to anyone with any information in relation to the incident, or who may have dash-cam footage available to contact the PSNI on 101 quoting reference number 894 12/04/22.