‘Unbelievable co-operation’ restores burned house for Christmas

Just days after Tom Hill’s house went up in flames, friends, neighbours and people from around Roscommon town formed a plan to fix it up in time for Christmas.

The 74-year-old Roscommon resident had a narrow escape on October 25th after a candle sparked a huge fire while he slept in the next room. A phone call from a friend and a rap on the window from a concerned neighbour alerted Mr Hill to the fire surrounding him.

“I can still smell it and taste it – the smoke. It is a hell of a feeling, that smoke, when it hits you,” he recalled.

“It could have been much worse; there could have been children in the house and I couldn’t have coped with that,” Mr Hill said.

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A group of volunteers, including skilled builders and tradespeople, began work on Mr Hill’s home with the aim of getting him back in his own bed by Christmas. After just seven weeks of work, Mr Hill, known locally as T, is ready to move home.

“We are bang on schedule,” Gerry Browne, one of the organisers, said, adding: “This whole thing has been very heartwarming. It was an example of community in action.

“There wasn’t even one angry exchange between the team. The level of co-operation was really unbelievable,” he said.

A surveyor had estimated the repairs to Mr Hill’s home would cost €70,000-€80,000. The volunteers raised €25,000 through a fundraising page and private donations. Businesses around the town also donated materials, such as windows, doors, roof sheeting, scaffolding, tiles, shower units, a television and a microwave. The materials, as well as the fact so many of those who volunteered were highly skilled tradespeople, cut the cost of the build to about €25,000.

“We will be closing the GoFundMe Page early. We really didn’t know what figure but we have had a big response,” he said.

The generosity shown by the community of Roscommon was “huge” but unsurprising, Mr Browne said.

“T is a legend around the town because he knows a huge amount of people. He is in with everybody,” he explained.

‘Lucky and unlucky’

In the wake of the fire Mr Hill was left feeling “lucky and unlucky”. While his belongings went up in flames, he has found himself rich with the kindness of people from throughout the town.

“Money means nothing to me. What do I want but only an old bed to lie down?” he said.

“I have the best neighbours and the best friends in the world. They have done a magnificent job of it. I just don’t know how to thank them enough,” he said.

After two months living with his neighbours, Mr Hill is looking forward to returning to the house where he grew up.

“I had great old times here. I wouldn’t leave this house if I won a billion euro in the morning,” Mr Hill said, adding that he can still remember the smell of his mother’s bread baking in the oven.

The house on the corner of Henry Street looks different now, he said, but it will “always be one in a million to me”.