Dublin City Council and the Salvation Army have stepped in to help find beds for 75 people left homeless after a fire broke out in a St Vincent de Paul shelter early yesterday morning.
Mr Stuart Kenny of St Vincent de Paul said one wing of its city-centre shelter in Dublin was damaged, but it was hoped it would be open again within days.
"It's the first time since the facility opened in 1915 that it's been forced to close. The good news for residents is that we've had a tremendous response from agencies offering accommodation," he said.
The alarm at the shelter on Back Lane, near Christ Church, was raised shortly after 3 a.m. yesterday morning. Thirty-five of the 75 residents were evacuated, and two received minor injuries as they left the premises.
Six units of Dublin Fire Brigade brought the blaze under control. It was confined to one wing of the building.
Many of the residents yesterday gathered outside the hostel, waiting to hear news of where they were due to stay for the night.
Mr Anthony Horrigan, a homeless man in his early 50s, said some of the residents played a heroic role in ensuring everyone escaped safely.
"There were two men in particular who were banging on doors and making sure everyone got out of their rooms. It was a very frightening experience," he said.
Another man, who declined to be named, said it was thanks to the work of the staff and residents that a partially deaf homeless man was rescued.
"I was up on the top floor of the building. There was smoke everywhere.
"I went into one of the bathrooms and thought about jumping down, but we were able to go down the stairs in the end.
"One of the older men is a bit deaf and didn't wake up when the alarm was sounded. He got out in the end. The staff and the fire brigade were very, very good," the man said.
Mr Kenny said the damage caused by the fire was mostly smoke-related. Gardaí were yesterday making inquiries at the centre, but the cause of the blaze is still not known.
