Dublin fire officers are to prepare a report after 15 people were evacuated from a burning building on Ormonde Quay in the city centre yesterday.
Ten of the 15 people were taken to Dublin hospitals suffering from smoke inhalation as a result of the fire which gardaí said started in refuse bags stacked in the hallway of the building.
Residents of the four-storey Georgian building said the house was divided into nine apartments with about 30 tenants, mostly members of the Asian community.
The fire broke out at about 2.30pm and Dublin City fire officers and the gardaí sealed off Ormond Quay as people were taken out of upper storey windows. There was severe traffic disruption as onlookers and those who were evacuated gathered on the Liffey boardwalk.
Bunk beds could be seen in the windows of rooms which also contained cooking and washing facilities.
Extensive fire damage was visible in the hallway of the building which residents said was the only way out to the street. A Garda spokesman said five tenants had been rescued from an enclosed yard at the rear of the building.
A fire alarm alerted tenants, one of whom immediately telephoned the emergency services.
The residents, who did not want to be named, said the hall stairs and landing, which represented their only way out, were on fire. They praised the quick work of the fire officers in getting people out and bringing the fire under control.
Residents said bags of rubbish were regularly stacked in the hall.
A spokeswoman for Dublin City Council said building regulations required all new or newly- renovated buildings to have fire safety certificates. She was unable to say what was the position with regard to fire safety certificates for older buildings.
However, Labour party spokesman on the Environment Eamon Gilmore said all new buildings over three storeys in height were required to have a fire escape fitted and he called for a review of fire safety regulations.
"The shocking thing is that many years after the Stardust disaster, a lot of the recommendations that came out of that are not in place.
"The regulations assume that we are still living in separate, self-contained housing units, but there has been huge growth in apartment living, particularly in private rented accommodation. The whole area needs a review," he commented.
