Pub evacuated following small curtain blaze
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THE management of the Star and Crescent bar has been praised for their emergency evacuation procedures following a small curtain fire in one of the bars early on Sunday morning.
The building was emptied in minutes after the club's emergency plan was activated.
'I was on the dance floor when the bouncers came down and asked us to leave the building and then the DJ told everyone to evacuate and it wasn't a drill,' one reveller at the scene stated.
' There was a lot of smoke but we got to the front door quickly, it was very well organised.'
Others were in the smoking area and they got out through a door into the Fairgreen.
'It was only when I got outside that I saw a curtain in flames but it was well contained,' she added.
The fire was quickly extinguished and the bar was back up and running by Sunday afternoon.
'We had a small incident in one of the bars where a curtain went on fire at around 2.30am on Saturday night and we felt it was in the best interests of health and safety to evacuate the premises,' said Graham Canning from the Star and Crescent.
'It was very small but unfortunately it has been blown out of proportion.
'We had approximately 1,000 people on the premises and they were evacuated within two and a half minutes.'
He said this was as a result of calm and efficient manner in which both bar and security staff dealt with the situation.
'That has to be commended and is as a result of the training programme implemented in the place,' said Graham.
He said the fire service and gardaí then arrived on the scene and carried out a full forensic examination to ascertain the cause of the fire.
'We were open again for business by 3pm on Sunday. There was very little damage, just a small square around the curtain, and all areas are fully operational again.
'We would like to reassure our customers that it is business as usual and thank them for their support and understanding at this time.'
Two units of the Drogheda Fire Brigade were sent to the premises after a call was received at 2.25am.
Four firefighters with breathing apparatus entered the building and the fire was extinguished by 2.45am.
' We stayed on the scene for an hour and 15 minutes,' said assistant chief officer Joe Lumsden, 'but mainly to ventilate the premises.
' We requested an ambulance to attend to a doorman who was suffering from smoke inhalation, and a number of patrons were treated by our crew.'
- Fiona MAGENNIS
