Criminal involvement not ruled out in Omagh house fire
Police in the North have not ruled out criminal involvement in a house fire which is feared to have claimed the lives of a family of seven today.
A couple and their five young children are believed to have died in the blaze at their end-of-terrace house.
Detective Chief Superintendent Norman Baxter, of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said officers were carrying out a full investigation to “try to establish if there were any untoward circumstances”.
He refused to comment on rumours that there had been some form of commotion involving the parents before the fire swept through the house shortly before 5am.
He said: “What we are doing here is carrying out a thorough investigation to establish the origins of how it started. There is nothing at this stage to indicate there was a definite crime.
“We’re having a thorough investigation to ensure everything is explained about the origins of the fire, how it started and how this family died in the fire.”
Police and firefighters combing through the shell of the three-bedroomed house identified a number of bodies, none of which have been removed from the scene - but exactly how many bodies are inside has not been confirmed.
The chief superintendent said: “There has been a tragedy here with significant loss of life, but we are not in a position to say exactly the number of persons at this stage.”
Mr Baxter declined to say whether police had been called to the family home in Lammy Crescent, Omagh, Co Tyrone, recently.
He said: “I would prefer not to comment at this stage. It is very early in the investigation and we will be looking at a range of issues, including the period leading up to the fire.”
A special team headed by a detective superintendent has been set up to investigate the circumstances of the fire, which left the close-knit community on the edge of Omagh in shock.
In a town which has suffered more than its fair share of tragedy, people did not want to talk about what happened and the whole housing estate was strangely quiet.
The primary school just yards from the burnt house, and to which two of the family’s young children went, was shut with the blinds pulled.
It was a similar picture around the crescents and closes of 1970s Housing Executive homes where doors were shut and curtains pulled.
Local independent councillor Paddy McGowan, himself a retired firefighter, said people had been stunned by the loss of life.
Mr McGowan visited the scene early in the morning while firefighters were still damping down the blaze.
He said: “There were neighbours in shock standing in little bunches and crying. There is a complete numbness in the area that the family has been, it seems, lost, wiped out in the tragedy.
Parish priest Monsignor Joseph Donnelly said the five children of the family ranged in age from a 13-year-old girl to a baby boy only a few months old who was christened in the spring.
He said: “The community at the moment is trying to come to terms with the enormity of the tragedy. The children were all so young.
“The school is shut today, the pupils and teachers are shocked and grieving and there is also great concern for other children who would have been classmates of two of the family.
“There is a terrible sense of loss within the school population and the wider population.”
The area around the scene of the fire was taped off by police cordons but throughout the day a trickle of people appeared to lay floral tributes to the dead family.
A giant teddy bear handed to a firefighter was placed with several bouquets just outside the blackened remains of the house.
One of the bouquets carried the message: “God bless. You are all together in heaven”. Another said: “Dear friends, you will be sadly missed.”
