'Absolute disbelief' in Tipperary village as father and son killed in fire named locally
The Picture: Fire Farrell/rollingnews Broke Out At Eamonn On Monday 2 Ie 30am
Two men have died following a house fire in Co Tipperary on Monday.
Investigating gardaí said the fire occurred at around 2.30am in Littleton, near Thurles.
The two men have been named locally as Stephen Lee, aged in his 80s, and his son John, aged in his 50s.
They have been described as “treasured members of the community” by a local representative.
Councillor Sean Ryan told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland that the village of Littleton was numb following their deaths.
“There is just complete and utter devastation. This tragedy happened in our village."
Mr Ryan said the incident is "beyond comprehension" and there is a sense of "absolute disbelief" in the locality.
"And if I could just take this opportunity to thank the emergency services for all the help they gave and to all the neighbours who did everything they possibly could. It's just a complete and utter tragedy.
"And of course, as a community over the next couple of days, weeks and months, all we can do is be there for the family rally around them and every support that we can give them. Anything we can do to help them.”
Parish priest Fr Tom Fogarty said Stephen was a very quiet, honest, unassuming man.
“Everybody knew him, his gentle smile and I suppose deep sincerity and unassuming personality endeared him to everybody. He was just a lovely gentleman. And actually, I remember meeting him 24 hours before the accident with his daughter Karen on his way to go and visit his wife's grave as he did almost every day.”
Investigations into the fire are ongoing, a spokesperson for the gardaí said.