THE HIGH Court has heard conflicting evidence from engineers about the cause of a fire which destroyed a former local authority house in Dublin.
Rita Deane, who had purchased the house at Cremona Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin, from Dublin City Council, has claimed the fire occurred after various electrical repairs and rewiring were carried out on behalf of the council. She was rehoused after the fire.
Yesterday, Patrick Caden, an electrical engineer with the council, said he could not accept evidence of another engineer, Ron Bergin, for Ms Deane, who had said it was more than probable the fire was started by an electrical fault.
As the result of his own investigation into the fire, he had concluded it began “external” to a plug socket in a bedroom in which four of Ms Deane’s children were sleeping at the time, Mr Caden said. There were “well made connections” in the socket, he added. Another engineer who testified on behalf of the council, Norman Slack, told Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill he had also concluded the fire did not start in the socket as alleged.
Cross-examined by Pat O’Connell SC, for Ms Deane, Mr Slack said he believed the fire was caused by some act or activity by one of the occupants of the house or one of their agents at some time prior to the incident.
The council denies any breach of duty or negligence and pleads the fire occurred in circumstances outside its control and was not due to any defect in the wiring as alleged. The case continues today.