In pictures: Emergency services rushed to scene after truck blaze in Lucan
There were no injuries following the terrifying moment the truck caught fire in Lucan village near Brookvale, with dedicated crew members attached to Dublin Fire Brigade springing into action to extinguish the inferno.
Explosions could be heard as the blaze occurred in the HGV that was carrying aerosol cans.
Footage shared of the scene on social media shows thick smoke billowing from a truck engulfed in flames as emergency services attend. Onlookers stood by capturing the moment and expressing their shock. Pictures from the aftermath show the truck completely burnt out as debris covered the road.
Dublin Fire Brigade urged motorists to avoid the area as they temporarily shut the road to tackle the fire.
A spokesperson for Dublin Fire Brigade warned: 'Temporary road closure in Lucan Village near Brookvale as we deal with a HGV fire. Avoid if possible'.
Gardaí confirmed they assisted emergency services with the blaze on Wednesday.
A Garda spokesperson told the Irish Mirror: 'Gardaí were assisting fire services at the scene of a truck on fire on the Lucan Road this morning, Wednesday, 30 July."
Check out our picture gallery below as emergency services tackle the blaze, or see our homepage for more stories.
Emergency services at the scene of a truck fire on the Lucan road in Dublin (Image: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin.) 1 of 9
The truck fire occurred this morning on the Lucan Road, close to a petrol station in Lucan Village 2 of 9
Dublin Fire Brigade has asked motorists to avoid the area if possible as it responds to the fire (Image: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin) 3 of 9
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Irish Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
In pictures: Emergency services rushed to scene after truck blaze in Lucan
Emergency services were rushed to the scene after a truck carrying aerosol cans burst into flames in Lucan on Wednesday morning. There were no injuries following the terrifying moment the truck caught fire in Lucan village near Brookvale, with dedicated crew members attached to Dublin Fire Brigade springing into action to extinguish the inferno. Explosions could be heard as the blaze occurred in the HGV that was carrying aerosol cans. Footage shared of the scene on social media shows thick smoke billowing from a truck engulfed in flames as emergency services attend. Onlookers stood by capturing the moment and expressing their shock. Pictures from the aftermath show the truck completely burnt out as debris covered the road. Dublin Fire Brigade urged motorists to avoid the area as they temporarily shut the road to tackle the fire. A spokesperson for Dublin Fire Brigade warned: 'Temporary road closure in Lucan Village near Brookvale as we deal with a HGV fire. Avoid if possible'. Gardaí confirmed they assisted emergency services with the blaze on Wednesday. A Garda spokesperson told the Irish Mirror: 'Gardaí were assisting fire services at the scene of a truck on fire on the Lucan Road this morning, Wednesday, 30 July." Check out our picture gallery below as emergency services tackle the blaze, or see our homepage for more stories. Emergency services at the scene of a truck fire on the Lucan road in Dublin (Image: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin.) 1 of 9 The truck fire occurred this morning on the Lucan Road, close to a petrol station in Lucan Village 2 of 9 Dublin Fire Brigade has asked motorists to avoid the area if possible as it responds to the fire (Image: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin) 3 of 9
Irish Examiner
22-07-2025
- Irish Examiner
Silence is allowing animal cruelty to thrive in our towns and cities
Across Irish towns and cities, from Dublin to Limerick, Cork, Drogheda, and beyond, urban horses are suffering in silence. Tethered to railings, trees, or lampposts without water or shelter, abandoned in parks or waste ground, or running loose through traffic, these animals are not just neglected, they're being failed by a broken system. This is not rural cruelty. It's urban neglect, unfolding in social housing estates and city fringes where poverty, disconnection, and lack of enforcement intersect. But this isn't just an animal welfare crisis. It's a public safety and social justice issue, and one that demands urgent Government action. Under the Control of Horses Act 1996, local authorities can designate control areas where horses may not be kept without a licence. Most urban estates, especially in social housing, fall within these zones. To keep a horse legally, a person must: • Hold a valid licence; • Provide proper shelter, land, water, and food; • Ensure the horse is microchipped and registered with a passport. In reality, very few residents in disadvantaged communities have the resources to meet those requirements. Yet horses are still kept out of tradition, identity, or as a form of personal empowerment. The result is often heartbreaking: foals born into back gardens, horses tied to fences in blistering heat, or dumped to die in fields. Councils frequently impound these animals, and many are euthanised due to injury, illness, or being unclaimed. But this reactive cycle solves nothing and the suffering continues. To understand why this happens, you have to look beyond the rope around the horse's neck. In many cases, it's poverty, isolation, or intergenerational hardship that's holding that rope. For young people in these communities, a horse might be the only thing they feel they can control. For some families, it's a cultural tradition. For others, it's emotional survival in an environment lacking opportunity, structure, or hope. This does not excuse the cruelty but it explains the conditions. And it reveals a deeper truth: if we fix one, the other will benefit. Enforcement of animal cruelty laws is not just inconsistent, it's often absent. In Limerick, for example, fewer than 10 reports of animal cruelty were recorded in 2024, despite clear evidence of widespread suffering. This is not because cruelty is not happening, it's because people don't know how to report it, or don't believe anything will happen if they do. Without proper structures, even the best laws are meaningless. My Lovely Horse Animal Rescue is calling on the Government to establish a dedicated, Garda-led animal welfare crime unit. This unit should: • Respond quickly to cruelty reports; • Support animal seizures and prosecutions; • Coordinate with the Department of Agriculture, councils, and welfare charities; • Build public trust and increase accountability. But we also need to empower the public. That's why we're calling for a nationwide public awareness campaign, urging people to report all instances of animal cruelty — not to social media, but to An Garda Síochána, and then to the Department of Agriculture. If you witness: • A horse tethered without water, shelter or food; • A loose or injured horse or foal; • Beating, dragging, or physical abuse; • Dead or dying animals in public areas; • Animals kept in unsafe, backyard or overcrowded conditions . Report it immediately to An Garda Síochána — cruelty is a criminal offence under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013. Record the location, time, and any identifiable details. Photos or videos help, if safe to obtain. Then notify the Department of Agriculture for traceability and enforcement follow-up. Inform animal welfare groups like My Lovely Horse Animal Rescue if urgent care is needed. Silence allows cruelty to thrive. Reporting protects both animals and communities. What we're asking the Government to do: Establish a Garda-led animal welfare crime unit; Fund and launch a public information campaign encouraging cruelty reporting; Mandate cross-reporting between gardaí, the Department of Agriculture, and local authorities; Provide resources for early intervention, youth outreach, and education in high-risk areas. A tethered horse in a housing estate is more than an animal in distress, it's a mirror of the poverty, policy failure, and quiet suffering endured by many. But this can change. Support the animal, and the person behind the rope may find support too. Create a system that cares, and the cycle of cruelty will break. Protect animals, Protect people. Kerry-Anne Pollock is head of animal welfare for My Lovely Horse Animal Rescue Read More Ireland's animal welfare system is unfit for purpose and animals are suffering because of it
The Irish Sun
19-07-2025
- The Irish Sun
The unbelievable night ‘burning flood' river of whiskey ran through Dublin & claimed 13 lives – but not from flames
WILLIAM Cheetham was walking the streets of Dublin on a warm June night in 1875 when word spread of "burning flood" in the Liberties - within an hour he would be staggering drunk, and the next morning pronounced dead. The 18-year-old is one of 13 known casualties of the Great Advertisement 6 The Great Dublin Whiskey Fire of 1875 broke out on June 18 6 The fire indirectly claimed the lives of at least 13 people 6 Fire service historian and author Las Fallon believes the tragedy claimed even more lives Retired Dublin firefighter Las Fallon described the devastating event as "both a fire and a flood" - but a fledgling fire service had the ingenious idea to utilise manure to battle the blaze. The fire, which started on the evening of June 18, 1875, is believed to have begun in Malone's Bonded Storehouse on Chamber Street, where some 5,000 barrels of whiskey and spirits were being stored before bottling. Advertisement An excise officer was the last person in the storehouse that day, locking up without incident by 4.45pm. At 8pm, however, the alarm had been raised that a fire had started in the building. Las, a retired member of He said: "The first anyone knew of the fire is when it pushed through the roof of the warehouse; that's a well-developed fire; that's a fire that's been building up and building up and building up. "There was no indication of this. Nobody was smelling smoke as they went around and looking to see if there was a glow in the window or something." Advertisement He further explained: "There's an inferno within the building. The barrels, of course, are bursting; they're adding more fuel to the fire. "Some of them are exploding and actually been thrown clear of the building. And most of those are landing on the streets outside and bursting open, and again, just adding to the fire out there. "The burning whiskey is starting to flow out of the building, and the extraordinary thing about this fire is that it's both a fire and a flood. It's a burning flood." As the fire intensified, the whiskey began to flow down Ardee Street, onto Chamber Street, and then onto Mill Street. A FLOOD OF FIRE At this stage, the fire brigade had been alerted, with reports of strange blue flame being spotted from the roof of the storehouse. Advertisement Las explained: "People talk about the flames on the roofs, where the extraordinary thing about it was the blue flame. That's alcohol burning, you know, like Christmas pudding with the brandy on it." Arriving on the scene, Dublin Fire Brigade - founded only 13 years prior and comprising only 25 men - attempted to contain the rapidly spreading flood of burning whiskey. Quickly, they realised they couldn't extinguish the flames with water from their hand-pumped engines as the CUNNING PLAN Luckily, the DFB's Chief Officer Captain James Ingram, had a cunning, albeit disgusting, plan to stop the blaze. At first, Ingram had his men and a number of requisitioned Advertisement When this failed to slow the flow, Ingram had his men seek out manure depots scattered across the city. At the time, Dublin was a horse-drawn city, and as a result, large areas were needed to store the massive amounts of manure produced each day. Ingram believed this manure could be used to stop the spread of the fire by stacking it throughout the streets in the form of makeshift barricades. DISGUSTING MEASURES While mainly animal manure was used, human waste gathered from pits outside tenant flats and animal products from tanneries in the area were also used to bolster the disgusting barricades. While unsavoury, the barricades did succeed in containing the fire by slowing the flow of whiskey and allowing the alcohol to burn off safely into the air. Advertisement While Ingram and his men fought to contain the fire, however, an even stranger spectacle was taking place in the surrounding streets. Since the fire had started, people had been pouring into the Liberties - in fact, 150 police officers had been deployed to tackle the crowd. "The burning whiskey is starting to flow out of the building, and the extraordinary thing about this fire is that it's both a fire and a flood. It's a burning flood." Las Fallon Fire Service Historian Dublin, at the time, was a very poor city. Many residents lived difficult lives with little in the way of entertainment. The bright blue fire produced colour and spectacle, which drew spectators in from all over the city. And it didn't take long for these spectators to realise what was now flowing down the streets in large quantities. Advertisement People immediately began to drink the whiskey - getting down on their hands and knees and using hats and shoes to scoop up the spirits. DIRTY DRINK The whiskey, however, was undiluted and not fit for human consumption. It was also flowing through human and animal waste, as well as dirty street gutters. Unsurprisingly, people immediately began to get sick. Due to the higher strength proof of the whiskey, many also quickly became ludicrously drunk. Advertisement 6 This year marks the 150th anniversary of the great Dublin whiskey fire Credit: Las Fallon Las mentions one instance where attendees of a wake left to enjoy the free drink. He said: "On Chamber Street, there was a wake taking place, and the corpse was laid out, and the family and friends were there, and the people there grabbed the corpse to preserve it from the fire. "They ran off up the street, but apparently what they did with him is they got him kind of to a safe distance and propped him up in a doorway when they realised that the streets, you know, despite the danger, were flowing with streams of whiskey." BARNYARD MADNESS He also explained that the area held a lot of livestock, which only added to the chaos and confusion. Advertisement He said: "There were a lot of stables in the area; people went into the stables and freed the horses naturally enough, you know, a humanitarian thing to do, but a lot of the horses ended up running into the stream and started to get burned on their hoofs, so they're stampeding around the place and they can't get out of it no matter where they go. "A lot of people kept pigs, so there's a lot of pigs running around the street. Pigs are squealing running around, horses are squealing, there's donkeys, there's people running with all kinds of domestic animals." He added: "There are great images of people running down the street trying to carry a goat under the one arm and a couple of chickens under the other." LOST COST Despite all this, Ingram and his crew extraordinarily had the fire under control by 1.30am the next morning. In total, adjusting for inflation, over €6million in whiskey is estimated to have been lost in the fire. Advertisement Much of the Liberties was also destroyed, including many businesses and poor tenement buildings. Given the scale and intensity of the fire, however, it is surprising that more wasn't destroyed and that nobody was killed as a direct result of the flames. For their efforts, Ingram and his men received little in the way of thanks. THE COVER UP Las explained: "A brilliant bit of firefighting, brilliant bit of thinking, and very progressive for its day, but absolutely not going to make its way into a Victorian newspaper. Imagine. What did they spread? How did they stop it?" The fire, which was scrupulously mocked in foreign papers, played into unfavourable stereotypes of the Irish and threatened future business and investment in the city. Advertisement As a result, by the time the fire had been extinguished the following morning, a concerted effort was underway by the city council to downplay the events and kill the story. While no one is known to have directly died in the fire, several people did die in the following days as a result of the polluted whiskey. Two dozen people were reported to be hospitalised due to alcohol poisoning. And 13 of these - including Cheetham - later died as a result. "You know, there are great images of people running down the street, you know, trying to carry a goat on the one arm and a couple of chickens under the other." Las Fallon Fire Service Historian And Las believes that it is likely that even more people died. He said: "A lot of the people who died, in my estimation, died in the days afterwards when the cover-up had started. And they're dying of things like gastroenteritis. You know, it's a direct result of the drink. Advertisement "I mean the amount of people in the hospital unconscious from drinking, that didn't get up the next morning. "You know, a certain number would have contracted things like gastro, which would be the one to scream out as a big killer there. "Especially in the days before antibiotics or any form of effective treatment for it. So the people are dying, but the majority are dying at a time that the city has decided that this didn't happen." A FORGOTTEN FIRE The people who died following the fire were largely forgotten, if not outwardly mocked at the time. At a meeting following the fire, Lord Mayor Peter Paul McSwiney is quoted as saying: "On inquiry, I was happy to learn that no life was lost during the great conflagration." Advertisement Even Ingram, the man who stopped the fire and helped create the Dublin Fire Brigade, was largely overlooked, being buried in an unmarked grave in Mount Jerome Cemetery. 6 Retired firefighter Las Fallon wants James Ingram to be honoured Currently, Las is attempting to commission a plaque for Ingram at the old fire brigade headquarters on Taylor Street. So far, his request has been met by delays. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Great Dublin Whiskey Fire, a remarkable story of ingenuity, tragedy, whiskey and excrement. Due to both time and interference, however, little evidence of the fire remains and most people, even those from the Liberties area, are unaware of the fascinating story. Advertisement The few rumours which do persist often say little of the men who fought bravely to stop fire, and even less of the people, like William Cheetham, who lost their lives in the aftermath. The Great Liberties Whiskey Fire by Las Fallon is available in good bookstores now. 6 Las Fallon's The Great Liberties Whiskey Fire tells the story of the blaze
