Killucan footballer and trainee garda rescues man from fire

A Killucan footballer and garda recruit has spoken about his role in helping to save the life of a man who was trapped in a house fire to which the trainee garda had been called while stationed in Tullamore.

Trainee garda Graham Flood said the incident involved “a real race against time” and was “something I’ll never forget”.

The Killucan resident, part of Intake 234 at the Garda Training College in Templemore, explained that the house fire occurred on the first night he was on duty in Tullamore as part of his Phase 1 Stage 2 training.

“What happened was we got a 999 call, an emergency call to a house that was on fire. That would have been at a time when there was a red weather warning,” he said. “We made our way to the incident, myself and my sergeant. We were first on the scene and when I arrived, my sergeant told me to go out and see what was going on, see was there anyone outside, or what was happening.

“All I could see was a house that was in big flames. I greeted the lady that was standing outside the house, the owner of the house, and she was in a great panic,” he said.

The woman told Graham that her husband was trapped in “one of the back bedrooms” of the house. “She didn’t know exactly where he was, but at that point my sergeant told me to go around the back and see if I could see anything in the windows.”

He said that the fire brigade arrived but the firefighters weren’t able to get straight in through the front of the house because parts of the attic were breaking down.

In the meantime, Graham continued to search for the trapped man while “the flames got larger and the smoke got heavier. All I had with me was my torch, and I looked through windows to see was there any signals of anyone in the house.”

Several minutes later, he saw “a hand appear in the dark smoke. At that point, I knew I had located the man. I asked for backup. The fire brigade crew came straight in and got him out within 30 seconds. It was a real race against time, and something I’ll never forget.

“As I was walking out that night, the lady stopped me on the way out and said ‘you saved the only thing that I have in this life’ – and that was himself.”

Graham told the story in a video created and shared online by the Garda College in Templemore.

The garda post online stated that the rescued man and his partner were “safe and on the road to recovery”.

A college statement said: “We are extremely proud of Graham here at the Garda College and are looking forward to having him and his Intake back to us next week for the commencement of their Stage 3 training.”