Portrush fire 'may have been deliberate'

The fire broke out at an unoccupied property adjacent to a nursing home.

The NI Fire Service was called to the end-of-row property at Bath Terrace just before 9 last night.

At that stage it was described as a “well-developed fire.”

The Fire Service said 52 firefighters took part in the operation along with eight appliances, an aerial appliance and a specialist command support unit.

The blaze was brought under control in the early hours and it is understood no-one was injured.

Group Commander Andy Sinclair said it could have been much worse.

"We'll be sending officers out this morning along with police to have a look at it," he said.

"But our early indications from looking at it would be that it would appear to be a deliberate fire.

"It was quite a complex fire to deal with and on top of that, we had a nursing home which was just a couple of buildings away.

"We were quite concerned for a time that we would have to evacuate the residents of the care home.

"Luckily enough, we were able to leave them in situ, although I'm sure it was quite distressing for them, because it was fairly late."