This article is from page 1 of the 2008-10-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 1 JPG
UP TO €100,000 damage was caused in a suspicious weekend fire in Killaloe that destroyed two boats and damaged two others.
The bank holiday weekend blaze which is being investigated by gardai, led to chaos at the moorings close to the Harbour Village apartment com- plex in Killaloe on Sunday evening, amid fears that the fire would spread
to dozens of other boats that were moored in the immediate vicinity.
A 36-year-old man was taken from the water by two people who dis- covered the blaze. He was taken to hospital in Cork, where he is being treated for burns to the body.
The pleasure boats were parked to the rear of the apartment complex and were privately owned by locals. Gardai are awaiting forensic reports before they ascertain how the blaze
started at around 8pm.
The boats were empty at the time, but several other boats were moved from the area, amid concerns that the fire would spread. Two of the boats are irreparable, while the other two were smoke damaged.
Killaloe Coastguard was dis- patched to the scene, where 15 crew were on duty. Killaloe and Ennis fire crews also attended the scene of the blaze.