This article is from page 50 of the 2007-11-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 50 JPG
ENVIRONMENTAL experts will continue to monitor air quality in the area affected by last week’s fire on Station Road.
Clean-up teams have been working at the site of Bredin’s Hardware store since Thursday after it was destroyed by fire in the early hours of Wednes- day morning.
Eleven homes in nearby Ard na
Gréine were evacuated in the after- math of the blaze, after particles of asbestos cement used in the roof of the building were blown into homes and gardens.
Of those evacuated, all have now returned home after being housed in hotels in Ennis at the weekend by Ennis Town Council.
Sean McCusker of McCusker Envi- ronmental, the company overseeing the work at Bredin’s, said extensive
assessment and air monitoring of the area had revealed no traces of asbes- ON
He said, “Most people are back in their homes by this stage. We have been down there for the past three days. We are continuing with the clean-up, but we have not found any trace of asbestos, either outside or i1n- side people’s homes.”
Mr McCusker said clean-up teams will continue to monitor the area.
“All the tests have shown that no fibres are present but the cleaning will continue in houses and the area around them. We are not quite sure for how long.
“The air will be monitored for some time yet purely as a preventa- tive measure.”
The next stage in the clean-up proc- ess is the demolition of the remain- ing sections of the building.
Mr McCusker said, ““The demoli-
tion will take place as a soon as pos- sible. That is something we are keen to start soon. Contractors will be contacted in the next week.”
At a meeting on Friday attended by residents, members of Ennis Town Council and a representative from the Health Services Executive, Chief Fire Officer Adrian Kelly said the building was structurally unsafe and that he would be issuing a closing OKeloe