Two paramedics have been hailed as heroes after saving the lives of 30 patients when an errant New Year's Eve firework started a blaze on a hospital roof.
The firework landed on Castletownbere Hospital in west Cork on Wednesday night and thanks to two quick thinking paramedics ‘ a major catastrophe’ was avoided.
Jim McCarthy, one of the paramedics on the scene, spoke to Lunchtime today and told Ciara McDonagh that originally they thought it was a firework and not a flare.
Jim, and his colleague Ray, had a hard time putting out the flare which was beginning to cause a lot of damage. Jim says if Ray hadn't noticed it, there would have been a serious incident: "If Ray hadn't been out there and had the good sense to say where is this after landing, this would have taken off very quickly.
"It kept on burning and burning."
You can listen to his full interview here:
