"Like a bomb about to go off": Judge concerned that mobile homes are fire hazard
Twenty five people have left seven mobile homes in a yard which Dublin City Council has said presents a serious fire hazard, the High Court heard today.
The caravans are located in a vehicular/car wash yard in Prussia Street and had been used to accommodate a number of individuals and families who are believed to have been from Eastern Europe.
Last week, Mr Justice Seamus Noonan granted the council an order that the mobile homes be immediately vacated.
He was told the mobile homes were positioned quite close to one another, had electricity cables running into them, gas cylinders outside, waste materials stored nearby and there was evidence that people were smoking around them.
Fire officers believed fire could spread rapidly from one mobile to another given the flammable nature of their construction and fittings with no means of egress in the event of a fire.
The judge commented that the conditions appeared to be "like a bomb about to go off".
He granted the evacuation order against the occupier and lessee of the site, TiboTancos, and against the owner, Mary McGrath, of Greenfields House, Maynooth, Co Kildare.
Today when the matter returned before the judge, Conleth Bradley SC, for the council, said agreement had been reached with the respondents and the caravans had been vacated.
The caravans themselves were still on site but the question of their removal was a separate planning enforcement matter, he said. The fire authority was concerned they should be vacated because of the risk to life.
Mr Bradley sought a permanent order that the caravans could not be used for habitation.
Mr Tancos, a Hungarian, told the judge he was agreeable to such a permanent order. The court heard last week he had also advertised the caravans for sale.
A solicitor of Ms McGrath said his client did not know anything about the use of the site for this purpose.
The judge said it had not been suggested that she did or that there was anything amiss as far as Ms McGrath was concerned but there was an urgency about granting the order.
The judge granted the permanent order and was told there was not application for the costs of the case by the council.
The court heard last week the situation of the people living in the caravans had been brought to the attention of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive and the judge hoped it would be in a position to look after them.
