Carrickmore man 'thankful' no one was injured in devastating house fire

"POSSESSIONS can be replaced - but other things cannot be."

These were the solemn words of Philip Anderson, who was speaking one week on since a house fire caused devastating damage to his home at Carrickmore.

However, Philip, who was on holiday in Portugal when the fire broke out, said he is just thankful that no-one was injured or killed in the incident.

"It was a big shock, so unexpected, and I still don't know what to say," said Phil. "You are never prepared for something like that, but at the same time you are thankful that there was no-one hurt, and no-one was in the house at the time. That is a blessing to take from it all. We are here to tell the story, and that is the main thing.

The fire broke out in the early hours of Sunday, August 13, and required the attendance of fire appliances from Dungannon, Pomeroy, Cookstown, Omagh, Lisburn, and Dungiven, as well as the Aerial Appliance from Springfield Fire Station.

Firefighters, wearing breathing apparatus, used hose reels and a jet to bring the blaze under control.

Phil, who was holidaying in Portugal at the time, was shocked to learn of the blaze after receiving an urgent phone call from back home.

"We were in Portugal at the time, and it was late that night when my phone had rang," he said. "It was a big shock to get that call. I was almost in a daze because I was in a deep sleep when I got the call, and I was thinking did I hear that right?

"Putting the phone down I was asking myself if that was really the case. I then phoned a friend of mine to ask about the house, and he confirmed that he saw blue lights at the house. It was surreal.

"We were due home on Sunday anyway, so we were on an early morning flight. It's not something you are expecting to hear at all."

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but at this stage Philip believes that it was caused by an electrical issue.

"The Fire Service are indicating that it was an electrical issue, but because there was so much damage it's very hard to actually pinpoint it," he explained. "You can't help thinking that if I was at the house I would have seen that something was wrong and could have done something, but those are all just things that go through your head afterward.

"The house is around 25-years-old. I was in the process of decorating and doing up room. Parts of the house are still relatively intact, and at this stage it really depends how much damage has been caused to actual structure, but we don't know the answer to that today.

"I think we will have to get an engineer to have a look at that to see the extent of the damage. Part of the house survived so we will have to wait and see whether it is safe to do anything. This said I am hopeful it can be repaired and that we can get back in as soon as possible."

Philip is well known in the local community as an athlete, having ran a marathon every week for a year in 2015 in memory of his late wife, Mary, who passed away from a brain tumour in 2015, just nine days after the loss of his mother.

Following the shocking incident, the local community have rallied around Philip and his son, who have now found alternative accommodation for the time being.

"It has been a very busy week of trying to get things sorted out, and finding somewhere to move into and seeing where to go with it all after that," he said.

"We only moved into a house on Friday evening, and will be staying with my sister. Luckily we are staying relatively close to where the house is, and this gives the chance to flit back and forward if we need to as things develop.

"We have had a lot of sympathy and a lot of offers of help, which we are very very thankful for. We are grateful for all the messages of support.

"I am a glass half full kind of person, I am thanking God for what didn't happen. It's one of those things, buildings and possessions can be replaced, others things cannot be. That's how I would look at it and try to take that side on it."