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Blaze at Guinness - Dublin City Centre Covered In Smoke

by infomatique | December 21, 2009 at 09:06 am

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Today the light was very good so I decided to get the Dart from Connolly station to Howth in order to take some photographs. However as I was about to board the train I noticed lots of smoke in the sky and it appeared to originate in Smithfield or even Bolton Street (I live in Bolton Street so I was hoping that my apartment was not the source).

I decided to forget about going to Howth so I went to the Luas stop outside the railway station and much to my surprise I was advised that the Luas service had been suspended because of a fire at Guinness. I then tried to get the number 90 bus to James's Gate but after a thirty minute wait I decided to walk (the 90 bus is supposed to run every fifteen minutes).

When I arrived at the Guinness brewery the fire was under control so there was not much to photograph. Also, as I did not have my telephoto lens with me I could not get any really good close-ups.

11 units of Dublin Fire Brigade and three aerial fire fighting vehicles attended the scene this afternoon.

It is understood two fire fighters were injured while they were tending to the blaze. They were taken to St James's hospital for treatment.

The fire broke out in a storage building at the lower end of the brewery near the Victoria Quay entrance at 12.10pm this afternoon.

Diageo said repairs were being carried out on the roof of the building, which was partly made of felt.

The area in question was not in regular use and was successfully evacuated.

St. James's Gate Brewery is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo. The main product is Guinness Draft.

Leased for 9,000 years in 1759 by Arthur Guinness at £45 per year, St. James's Gate has been the home of Guinness ever since. It became the largest brewery in Ireland in 1838, and was the largest in the world in 1914, covering 64 acres. Although no longer the largest brewery in the world, it is still the largest brewer of stout in the world. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the brewery owned most of the buildings in the surrounding area, including many streets of housing for brewery employees, and offices associated with the brewery. The brewery also made all of its own power using its own power plant.