{"id":407285,"date":"2026-04-19T21:55:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T21:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/407285\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T21:55:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T21:55:08","slug":"dozens-of-firefighters-tackle-blaze-at-derelict-building-in-co-antrim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/407285\/","title":{"rendered":"Dozens of firefighters tackle blaze at derelict building in Co Antrim"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Concern has been voiced over a \u201cdevastating\u201d fire at a historic building in Co Antrim.<\/p>\n<p>Some 42 firefighters were battling the blaze at the derelict building at The Diamond in Ballycastle on Sunday night.<\/p>\n<p>A Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) spokesperson said they received a call about the incident shortly after 8pm on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCurrently 42 firefighters from stations in Ballycastle, Ballymoney and Portrush are attending,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">NIFRS crews are currently attending a fire at a derelict premises at The Diamond , Ballycastle.<\/p>\n<p>Local residents are advised to keep windows and doors closed, and members of the public are asked to avoid the area to support firefighting operations.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Northern Ireland Fire &amp; Rescue Service (@NIFRSOFFICIAL) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NIFRSOFFICIAL\/status\/2045963332151087273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">April 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwo aerial appliances, one from Northland Station and one from Springfield Station, are attending the incident along with a command support unit from Kilrea Station.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCrews are currently working hard to bring the incident under control.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLocal residents are advised to keep windows and doors closed, and members of the public are asked to avoid the area to support firefighting operations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe would like to thank the public for their patience whilst we dealt with this incident.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sinn F\u00e9in councillor Cara McShane said the fire is at the Antrim Arms, a former hotel, which she described as a \u201ccornerstone of heritage in the town\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am deeply concerned by the devastating fire at the Antrim Arms in Ballycastle,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy immediate thoughts are with local residents and businesses who will be affected by this incident.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is an historic building and a cornerstone of the heritage in the town. However the wellbeing and safety of those living in the immediate vicinity is my main concern right now.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe health and safety of the emergency services is also paramount in tackling this blaze.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>                        <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Concern has been voiced over a \u201cdevastating\u201d fire at a historic building in Co Antrim. Some 42 firefighters&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407286,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-407285","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}