A LONDON Irishman risked his life to save three people, including a baby, from a burning building.
Heroic Mick O’Beirne, 38, said he didn’t think twice about entering the building in Harrow, north-west London, on Saturday night.
The London Fire Brigade confirmed around 60 fire fighters tackled the blaze, which took two hours to bring under control.
Flames
O’Beirne, lead singer with the band The Craicheads, said he was heading to the shops at around 10pm when he noticed smoke coming from the area of the building on the corner of Oxford Road and Pinner Road.
Other passersby suggested it was a barbecue from the back of the building, which contains flats above a shop.
However on his way back, O’Beirne, whose roots are in Mayo and Roscommon, could see flickering and flames through the roof tiles.
After calling the fire brigade, he made his way into the building along with two Romanian men, having seen lights on in the flats.
Around 60 fire fighters tackled the blaze (Image: Mick O'Beirne)“I just went over, started banging on the door, ringing the doorbell, trying to get attention, shouting, but there was no response,” he told The Irish Post.
“I kicked the door down and any doors that we seen along the way we just banged, alerting people.
“We woke up a fella on the first floor, he didn’t know what was going on, so we said just get dressed and get out of there.
“We ran up to the top floor and were banging on the door and there was a young lady in there with a baby.
“She was oblivious and didn’t know what was going on.”
FLip-flops
By this stage O’Beirne says he could see smoke coming from under a door in the woman’s flat and the ceiling starting to burn up, so he ushered the woman and her baby out of the building.
“It just shows how quickly it can spread,” said O’Beirne, “the next thing, bang, the roof is collapsing.
“The fire brigade said if they hadn’t gotten out they wouldn’t be here today.”
O’Beirne, a father-of-three, said he only realised the danger he had put himself in after seeing his wife.
Mick O'Beirne is lead singer with London Irish band The Craicheads“My wife had a go at me,” he said. “She said these boys have specialist equipment and the fire brigade said that to me as well – we’ve got all this and you went in with a pair of flip-flops.
“But if that was happening to us, I’d like to think that people would be there to help you out.
“I just went in and got them out, It didn’t really hit me until I seen my wife and then it sort of hits home that it could have been worse, but at the time it’s not in your head at all.”
The top floor and the roof were completely destroyed (Image: Mick O'Beirne)In a statement, the London Fire Brigade said: “Eight fire engines and around 60 fire fighters were called to a fire at a shop with flats above on Pinner Road, Harrow. The second floor and roof were destroyed by fire.
“A man as well as a woman and her baby were led to safety by a passerby who saw smoke before the arrival of the Brigade. There was no report of injuries.
“The Brigade was called at 22.09 and the fire was under control at 00.37. Fire crews from Feltham, Ruislip, Harrow, Wembley and surrounding fire stations attended the scene.
“The cause of the fire is under investigation.”
