Neighbours were ‘beaten back by the flames’: Waterford estate numb with shock at horror fire

P eople huddled in groups and pairs, some still in dressing gowns, seemingly numb with shock as the scale of the tragedy of four lives lost and two more critical following a house fire in Waterford . The scene unfolded in Birchwood, a 25-year-old estate of private and social housing, where families had begun preparations for Halloween, houses decorated with witches brooms and spectral ghosts. Neighbours were awoken just after 5am to the smell of smoke and immediately alerted the emergency services, running to the house to try to help.