TRAVELLERS on the temporary halting site in Ballymun where Ms Bridget Stokes died in a fire claim that an entrance harrier hampered the response of the emergency services.
The metal barrier, installed by Dublin Corporation, is locked to prevent other caravans from camping on the site illegally.
Travellers on the site yesterday expressed anger that the emergency services had no key to open the barrier and had been forced to gain access to the blazing caravan from the rear of the site.
"It's ridiculous. One person should have a key on the site, because nobody can get in", said one woman. "The fire brigade had to go round the back and if the barrier had been opened that woman might be alive."
Father Frank Murphy, from the Parish for Travelling People, said that he was "very concerned" that the fire brigade appeared to have no key to the site. He said that various councils were setting up large temporary sites without proper fire precautions.
The Dublin assistant chief fire officer, Mr Hugh O'Neill, said he is satisfied that the barrier had not caused a problem for the emergency services. He explained that the fire engines at the scene had cutting equipment which could have been used to dismantle the barrier if this had been considered necessary.
According to Mr O'Neill, the caravan was already ablaze and was starting to crumble when the first fire engine arrived from Finglas. The officers believed that there was someone at risk in the caravan, so they had attempted a rescue. He emphasised that the priority in such cases was always to save life.
Mr O'Neill said that an officer had directed two additional fire pumps towards the burning caravan from open ground at the rear of the site. The first pump had 400 gallons of water on board and hoses which could have stretched to the caravan.
"We regret that life has been lost, but by the time we got there nothing could have been done. No human was alive in there [the caravan] by the time we arrived", he added.
Mr Sean Moran, the officer in charge of Dublin Corporation's travelling people's section, said that the barriers were necessary to prevent parking by unauthorised caravans. Attempts to give barrier keys to residents on other sites had failed because the keyholders had complained of being "hounded" by people asking for the keys. He said that the "ideal situation" would be to set up residents' committees whose purpose would be to prevent trespassing.
Mr Moran said that he would discuss the blaze with fire officers. "Anything we can do and any suggestions anyone has to make the situation safer will certainly be looked at", he said.