14/10/2008

Overnight Fires Tackled

An overnight fire has left a woman in hospital. Meanwhile, in separate incidents, a private home and a soccer club has been hit by blazes, and a barn has been destroyed.

A fire, at a terraced property on Moat Road, Ballymena saw a female rushed to hospital after being rescued from her house in the Co Antrim town, the fire service said.

It is believed the woman was in an unconscious state when firefighters pulled her from an upstairs bedroom.

A neighbour, who raised the alarm, attempted to intervene but was overcome by the extent of the blaze.

NI Fire & Rescue Service Station Officer Gary Davidson said two firefighters, wearing breathing apparatus, found the woman upstairs after the fire was reported just around midnight on Monday.

"Other members of the crew tackled the fire in the living room," he said.

"The female was found unconscious in the front bedroom and brought downstairs and out the front by the firefighters wearing the breathing apparatus."

Meanwhile, a man has been injured in a petrol bomb and paint attack on a house in Ballyclare, also Co Antrim.

It happened in the Clare Heights area early on Tuesday morning, the police said.

Paint and a petrol bomb were thrown at a house, breaking some windows and damaging the living room and hall.

A man in the house sustained a burn to his hand and some cuts.

As a result of the incident, a 19-year-old man and 20-year-old man have been arrested.

The most extensive of the three overnight blazes was at Moyola Football Club's premises in Castledawson, Co Londonderry, which police said is being treated as suspicious.

The wooden pavilion used by the amateur club was burnt to the ground. It housed the changing rooms and equipment store.

The whole place is believed to have been gutted - with nothing even left to salvage.

Mid Ulster MLA Billy Armstrong has expressed his sadness regarding the devestation in Castledawson.

The Ulster Unionist representative said: "Moyola Park Football Club, in existence since 1880, has been central to the community and town of Castledawson for generations and even today provides the opportunity for children of all ages to take up and develop their interests in sport.

"Last night's fire highlights the resolve of this close-knit community who are now rallying behind the club in support and if this proves to be an arson attack, then it only serves to further alienate those in our society who are not moving forward into a better future, both on the sporting field and in our local communities."

Around the same time, a barn and 100 bales of straw were destroyed in a suspected arson attack in Co Tyrone.

The fire broke out in the barn on the Milltown Road, near Strabane, at about 9.30pm Monday.

(BMcC)

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