A YOUNG FAMILY are asking for Dublin City Council (DCC) to give them proper accommodation as they’ve been left in a homeless hub after their flat was wrongly targeted in a terrifying arson attack.
Katie and Jordan and their young kids aged 7,3, 2 and 1 woke to the sound of fire alarms and the smell of smoke at 2 am on Saturday night, to discover that their front door was ablaze.
Jordan’s sister Siobhan told The Journal that gardai have confirmed to the family that they were not the intended targets of the attack, which took place in a DCC owned flats building on James’s Street in Dublin 8.
“Katie went into the hallway and saw the door was fully on fire. She woke Jordan by screaming that the house was on fire.
“Jordan grabbed the youngest baby and was trying to open the front door, but obviously it was on fire, he got terrible burns on his hand. He managed to get one of the babies out to the neighbours, and Kate got out with two other small babies. They don’t know how, because as soon as the door opened the flames came in,” Siobhan said of the terrifying ordeal.
The family said Gardaí have told them they weren’t the intended targets of the attack.
Jordan sustained third degree burns on his hands and arms. He had to go back in to get the couple’s eldest child, who was brought out through the flames, and is now suffering from the trauma of the event.
She said that the eldest child suffered burns to her feet, and they are currently bandaged up.
“After everyone was out Jordan went back in one more time. He didn’t know why he did, he had this feeling that someone could still be in there, he’s been in fight or flight since,” Siobhan said.
She said that Jordan (33) and Katie (26), have been on the housing waiting-list to get out of that St James’s Street apartment since they had their eldest daughter.
“They have repeatedly told DCC that it’s not appropriate for six people to be living in a one bedroom apartment. On top of that there is no ventilation in it, so the kids were regularly in hospital over the years with chest infections.
“GPs teachers and more wrote to the council to support a move to a more appropriate location, and now this has happened,” she said.
Initially the family were moved to a homeless hub on Talbot Street, but Siobhan said that the family asked for them to be moved as it was not appropriate.
“Jordan has a prior brain injury, and their kids are completely traumatised from this. Katie did her absolute best to keep that flat, as small as it was, spick and span, and had a real routine for the kids, all of that has been up-ended. The eldest will need therapy, she remembers it all happening, it’s not right for them to be in homeless accommodation now,” she said.
She added that one of the kids has severe autism, and is now “completely disregulated”.
Now they have been moved into a family hub, but Siobhan says it is still “six people to a room”.
“We are really pushing now for DCC to take care of them and give them somewhere appropriate to live where they can recover from this. They cannot go back in that apartment, it is destroyed, the fuse box is melted to the wall,” she said.
“They fled with nothing. The kids don’t have any of their blankets, the child with autism doesn’t have his sensory toys, their stuff is ruined. We need to make sure they aren’t forgotten about and left in homeless accommodation,” she said.
Siobhan added that the family believe they are lucky to be alive.
A Gofundme has been established to try and help the family get back on their feet.
A garda spokesperson said that gardaí and emergency services attended the scene of the fire at two adjacent Dublin residences at around 2:40 am.
They added that the fire was extinguished and the scene has undergone a technical examination.
The spokesperson said that six people were brought to hospital for medical treatment, including a juvenile whose injuries are believed to be non-life threatening.
They added that investigations are ongoing.
The Journal has asked Dublin City Council for comment.
It’s understood that no arrests have been made yet, but that Gardaí have acquired and assessed CCTV footage.
