A major emergency plan was initiated by gardai in Belmullet, Co Mayo, last night following the outbreak of fire in a local factory.
Plumes of black smoke billowed over the town as the fire took hold, forcing the evacuation of all residents. The local district hospital was also evacuated. Power was knocked out by the ESB in parts of the town last night as a precaution but was later switched back on, according to a spokeswoman.
Monitoring of air and water quality has already begun to guard against any subsequent contamination.
As darkness fell, a total of 12 units from fire brigades from as far away as Sligo, Ballina and Castlebar were still fighting the blaze at Cow Comforts Ltd, a factory manufacturing rubber products.
However, the situation was reported to be under control at about 8 p.m. according to the county fire brigade headquarters at Castlebar.
It is believed the fire was caused by an electrical fault in a workshop but this is subject to a Garda investigation.
Eighty patients from Belmullet District Hospital were evacuated to Castlebar Hospital by the Western Health Board as a precaution and some 30 residents of St Deirbhle's old people's home were also moved out. The health board also dispatched 20 ambulances to Belmullet and sent environmental health offivers to the town to monitor water quality.
Supt Tony McNamara said that up to 80 per cent of the population had opted to go to relatives and friends and the others were being accommodated overnight on the local Palm Court ballroom, about three miles east of Belmullet. The remainder of the population refused to leave, he said.
The fire began at 2.30 p.m. when an electronic spark lit some diesel oil in the workshop, the superintendent said. While the fumes from the fire were not believed to be toxic, the company was holding large amounts of rubber raw materials.
"The blaze had the potential to be very serious, and there was concern about people with respiratory problems", said Mr Paddy Leech, a resident. The Garda, civil defence and Western Health Board were all involved when the emergency plan swung into operation.
Concern was expressed about the future of the 30 jobs at the factory after an announcement of the loss of 40 jobs at the Hydro-energy plant in Geesala, Co Mayo.