AT LEAST five people, four of them children, had a lucky escape when their house went up in flames that spread from a blaze at their neighbour’s home.
It is worrying that arson is suspected as the cause of the blaze which broke out in the Mossley area of Co Antrim.
There have been several serious blazes in recent years involving oil tanks and the ferocity of the fires has illustrated just how dangerous this household fuel can be.
It must be remembered of course that oil provides a very effective system of home heating and in most cases it is perfectly safe. In 2015 it was estimated that 70 per cent of homes here were heated in this way.
However, these fires illustrate that any mishap, whether intentional or not, can be a threat to life and usually result in very serious damage to property and possibly vehicles.
For instance, on Saturday one house was gutted, another damaged, two cars seriously damaged and an electricity substation put out of action for a day, leaving approximately 50 homes without power.
Perhaps it is time to review the regulations governing the use of heating oil, specifically the types of containers used to house the fuel.
Currently heating oil can be stored in steel or plastic tanks. It is not clear which type of container caught fire on Saturday but it has been demonstrated beyond doubt that plastic tanks are susceptible to fire and once the container ignites it is inevitable that the oil will follow. Because the fuel is a liquid it quickly spreads and makes it difficult for emergency services to contain any blaze within the area of ignition.
As stated, the majority of home heating systems are operated perfectly safely. But when things do go wrong there can be disastrous consequences.
According to the Oil & Renewable Heating Technologies (Oftec), the trade association for the oil heating industry in Ireland, the key to safe operation of oil central heating is regular inspections and following the regulations with regards to tank positioning.
In 2015 after a fire destroyed three homes in the Dunmurry area of Belfast, a Oftec spokesman advised that tanks and oil burning appliances should be inspected once a year.
Is it time that the regulations governing the installing and maintaining of such heating systems was reviewed, taking into account the materials used to store heating oil?
