Longford Review of the Year September 2024: Heroic actions of Longford fire service hailed in the wake of takeaway blaze

Heroic actions of Fire Service hailed

Fire Service personnel, who assisted two injured men in a large fire at a Longford town takeaway and quickly cleared the premises have been hailed as 'heroes'.
The blaze occured at Pizza Max in the Ardrum Court area shortly after 1pm on Monday, September 23 and restaurant worker Quddus Ur Rehman sustained burns to his head, arm and leg.
A second man, an onlooker who rushed in off the street to help put the fire out was taken to the hospital for burn injuries to his arm.
Both injured men, Pakistani-born Mr Ur Rehman, whose brother owns the takeaway, and the second man were treated at the scene by ambulance personnel for minor burns and then brought to hospital.
As the fire spread, the takeaway was engulfed in flames and fire service personnel, who arrived minutes later, immediately evacuated the building.
An investigation is taking place to ascertain what caused the blaze including the possibility that it may have been an electrical fault.
It is understood an onlooker rushed inside and attempted to put water on the fire after it erupted but this led to the fire intensifying and he was the second man hospitalised with burns to his arm.
Shabban Naz, who runs Longford Halal Meats and is a close friend of the Ur Rehman family, said the fire brigade arrived within minutes and responded very efficiently.

She insisted that the actions of the Longford Fire Brigade was vitally important as the consequences could have been far worse.
"I was in my shop and I saw the fire start and it went up so fast," she said.
"They reacted very well and they got here very quickly, they are heroes actually, they are very nice.”

Culture Night in Longford

The annual celebration of arts and creativity in Longford - Culture Night - saw events being hosted all across the county.
Culture Night the exploration of cultural activities has events slated in for every cultural and heritage discipline.
The night encompasses everything from small events in homes, to large outdoors, public spaces or community venues.
All events under the banner of Culture Night are free to the public. This year Longford's programme spans from music to painting, language to literature.
Punk rock to piano music, photography to drama, and reaching from Ballymahon to Granard there are events that encompass all aspects of what culture means.

30 local pubs closed

Thirty one local pubs have closed in County Longford have closed over the past two decades., a new report revealed.
Gerry Lynn of the Longford Vintner's Association is not surprised by the figures, published by the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI), which according to him is “a sign of the times”.
“There's many different things at play in regards to the way lifestyle has changed and our younger population and their drinking culture and everything like that.
“Those factors all have a major effect. The other thing is cost of running a business or a small business in rural Ireland,” he said.
Mr Lynn runs the Sportsman Inn in Edgeworthstown.
“At one stage we had 18 pubs here in Edgeworthstown. We're down to three at the moment, three that are open,” He explained.