Foul play not suspected in Meath Civil Defence HQ blaze

A blaze that caused extensive damage to the Meath Civil Defence headquarters in Navan yesterday afternoon is believed to have started accidentally with Garda examinations indicating that foul play is not suspected.

The devastating fire, which broke out around 4pm on Sunday, 21st December, saw vital emergency equipment including fire engines, ambulances and rescue boats destroyed. The building was unoccupied at the time and there were no injuries.

In a statement today, Meath County Council outlined that the scene was preserved early this morning so an examination could be conducted by members of An Garda Síochána.

This examination has concluded, and early investigations indicate that foul play is not suspected as the cause of the fire.

An Garda Síochána has now left the scene, and the building has been handed back to Meath Civil Defence following the conclusion of the investigation.

Despite the damage to the building, Meath Civil Defence will continue to operate as normal over the Christmas and New Year period.

Speaking this morning, Chief Executive of Meath County Council Kieran Kehoe said: “I would like to commend Meath County Council Fire and Rescue Service and Meath Civil Defence for their fantastic work to contain and limit the spread of the fire.

“I would also like to acknowledge the phenomenal support received by our Civil Defence colleagues around the country over the past 24 hours.”

The blaze at Moat View House, Mullaghboy Industrial Estate was concentrated on the loading bays that store vehicles, boats and generators used by Meath Civil Defence. Meath County Council confirmed that nobody was injured, and the building was unoccupied at the time of the fire.

Director of Services with Meath County Council, Dara McGowan who attended the scene said the blaze had been concentrated in the loading bay areas where vehicles would have been stored including fire engine, ambulance, incident command unit, catering units and trailers with rescue boats and generators.

He added that fire doors in the building, which was opened in October 2020 at a cost of over €2.6 million, prevented the fire spreading to the training room and offices.

Mr McGowan said offers of support from neighbouring county Civil Defence teams had flooded in.

"We've two staff and 180 volunteers throughout the county and they always show up when they're asked to show up and pull together especially when something like this happens."

"The other counties have all offered support, offered to lend us equipment as and when we need it so the service will not be affected. We will get what we need and rebuild as soon as we can and we'll build back bigger and better than ever before. We have plenty of great neighbours in Civil Defence that will come to our aid."