Great-grandfather says 'everything is gone' after house fire

An elderly man has said everything he owns has been destroyed after two family homes were gutted in a blaze.

Davy Haighton had lived in his terraced house at Knockleigh Walk, Greenisland, County Antrim, for the past 56 years.

The retired great-grandfather told BBC News NI that "everything is gone - clothes, money, documents, all our memories".

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said the "most probable cause is thought to be accidental ignition due to embers from a nearby bonfire".

In addition to gutting the two houses, the fire also damaged two other neighbouring properties in the terrace.

Haighton said his wife, who has mobility issues, was already asleep upstairs when he noticed a gate at the back of their house was ablaze shortly after midnight.

"I realised this was serious, so I got up [the stairs] and straight away woke my wife up and told her to get out because this house was about to burn," he said.

The pensioner said both he and his wife have "health problems because of our age" and his wife uses a stair-lift chair.

But he explained firefighters instructed her not to use the stair-lift during the evacuation for safety reasons, so she had to come down the steps on foot.

The couple then walked to a nearby field and, powerless to save their home from the flames, they "watched as the house burned".

Haighton said watching his family home burn down was "surreal".

"The most devastating thing, as far as I'm concerned, is the loss of our family history," he said.

"Fifty-four years of our life, all those memories and history, gone."

But the pensioner added: "I'm glad, thank the lord, people got out and nobody is injured."

The other gutted house belongs to Billy Withers' daughter who moved into the property eight years ago.

He went to the scene on Sunday morning to assess the damage and to try to help his daughter and her partner.

"It's eight years of a life you know? But, she's alive and that's what I'm trying to tell her," Withers told BBC News NI.

He became emotional as he spoke of his relief that they had escaped to safety.

He said his daughter had also lost all her belongings in the blaze, aside from what she was wearing, and she had to borrow clothes from her aunt.

Speaking about how the fire started, Withers pointed to the shell of the house behind him and said: "To be honest, it doesn't matter what's caused it - this is what we have."

The NIFRS deployed 45 firefighters to tackle the blaze, which also spread to several oil tanks and a shed.

It said it received a number of calls about the fire in Knockleigh Walk, the first being received just before 00:15 BST on Sunday.

"Some residents had to be evacuated from their properties, and our thoughts are with those who have been affected," its statement said.

The fire service thanked partner agencies and the community for their help in support of the displaced families.

On Saturday evening, some bonfires across Northern Ireland were lit ahead of the Orange Order's Twelfth of July parades.

NIFRS said received 303 emergency calls and responded to 151 operational incidents - 54 of which were bonfire related - between 18:00 BST on Saturday and 02:00 on Sunday.

Haighton said he had watched the bonfire in the estate being lit at midnight but sparks and thick black soot began spreading towards the terrace.

"When the fire took hold and the sparks started to come out, they were flying over - in their tens of thousands - over these houses."

He became concerned about his cats so he went to his back garden to check on them, which is when he noticed fire in his neighbour's garden.

"The flame was unbelievable, going like the clappers," he said.

Worried for the family's safety, he ran to their front door and banged on the letterbox and the windows.

"She [his neighbour] eventually came down and I said to her: 'Out as quick as you can, the back of your house is on fire'."

His neighbour then phoned for help while he tried to hose down the flames, but the fire got so hot he began to feel his face burning.

Realising the fire could not be stopped, he ran back into his own house to alert his wife and warn her to get out to safety.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said it assisted the NIFRS in Knockleigh Walk, after a report was made at 00:20 on Sunday.

They added the fire has been "deemed accidental at this time".

Alliance East Antrim MLA Stewart Dickson has called for a "full investigation" into the fire.

He expressed his "deepest sympathies" to the residents of the homes and thanked their "wonderful neighbours".

"The whole Greenisland community really rallied around the victims of the fire."

Elsewhere, on Milner Street in Belfast, firefighters dealt with a garage fire following fire spread from a bonfire.

In Cookstown, County Tyrone, firefighters had to withdraw from a bonfire due to a "hostile crowd", NIFRS said.

Firefighters also responded to other incidents across the night including accidental house fires in Antrim and Coleraine and an articulated lorry fire in Newry.

Bonfires are lit every year in some unionist areas of Northern Ireland ahead of the Orange Order's parades which are traditionally held on 12 July to commemorate the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

While many communities decided to light their Eleventh Night bonfires on Saturday 11 July, some will light theirs on Sunday night on the eve of the parades.

This year's Orange Order marches are being held on Monday 13 July because 12 July falls on a Sunday, which the Orange Order considers a religious day of rest.

On Sunday, a banner with a photo of former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Jeffrey Donaldson and his wife was placed on the Sandy Row bonfire.

Last month Donaldson was convicted of child sex abuse charges including rape and is currently in prison awaiting sentence.

His wife Eleanor Donaldson, who faced a trial of the facts on mental health grounds, was found by the jury to have aided and abetted her husband's offending.

Homes and street lights close to bonfires across Northern Ireland have been wrapped or boarded ahead of the bonfires that are happening on Sunday night.

Lights and homes just metres from a bonfire next to a playground in east Belfast have been wrapped and boarded. The lights surround part of the circumference of the pyre at Pitt Park.

About 40 homes have been boarded up next to the Craigyhill bonfire in Larne.

Its organisers say its height has reached 120m.

The playground and sports court has also been protected from fire and heat with protective hoarding.

"With further bonfires planned, we are prepared and ready to respond to all types of emergencies," said NIFRS Area Commander Dermot Rooney.

He encouraged everyone to "stay safe and make responsible choices" throughout the remainder of the bank holiday weekend.

"With warm, dry weather continuing, we also ask anyone spending time outdoors to follow our countryside fire safety advice."

While most bonfires pass off without any incident, there have been some safety issues both for people attending the bonfires and for residents living in the immediate vicinity.

A man died after falling from an unlit bonfire in east Belfast on Friday night, a death which the bonfire organisers described as a "tragic accident".

Elsewhere, some bonfires have caused controversy because they include the display of contentious images and the burning of sensitive symbols such as national flags.

Last week a County Tyrone bonfire was widely condemned after a replica mosque was set alight on top of the fire before police could move in to remove it.

On Saturday anti-immigration slogans and images were prominently displayed at a number of bonfire sites across Belfast.

Police said they are "aware of a number of items that were placed on bonfires... which will now be the subject of review and investigation".