Gardai rescued a man from a burning house following a seven hour stand-off which concluded in the early hours of this morning near Ballinasloe, Co. Galway. The man had barricaded himself into the house and had a can of petrol with him.
Specialist Garda negotiators from Dublin were drafted in while the Regional Armed Support Unit, an Ambulance and the Ballinasloe Fire Brigade were also alerted to attend.
The drama unfolded at about 9.30pm last evening when gardai were called to a house at Kilconell, near Ballinasloe when a man in his 40s barricaded himself into the property. He had made it known that he had a can of petrol with him. Gardaí quickly confirmed that there was nobody else with the man in the house.
Over the course of the stand-off, Garda negotiators attempted to talk the man out of the house, but he refused all requests to leave the property. Just after 4am, members of the Regional Support Unit burst their way into the property when flames were observed inside the house. They located the man who was uninjured, and pulled him to safety.
Ballinasloe Fire Brigade tackled the blaze and quickly brought it under control.
The man was arrested and taken to Ballinasloe Garda station where he was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act. Garda said everybody was relieved that the incident had been resolved without serious injury to anyone.
