Detectives investigating the fatal house fire in Derrylin on Tuesday morning in which four people lost their lives have been granted an additional 36 hours, by a court, to question a 27 year old man arrested on suspicion of murder. 

The bodies of the four victims that perished in the fire were removed from the scene on Thursday night.


There was a heavy police presence as the vehicles carrying the bodies of an entire family including a baby girl drove slowly along the snow covered Molly Road bound for Belfast for postmortem examinations. 

Specialist officers had erected four white tents on a farm yard next to the crime scene for the family named locally as Crystal Gossett, who was in her 40s, her 16-year-old son Edward and her 19-year-old daughter Diane and her young daughter.

Detectives investigating the deaths have ordered that a chimney and part of the gable wall of the property be knocked down for safety reasons, it’s understood.

Thick black smoke poured into the morning sky over Doon Mountain on Tuesday as flames ripped through the small three bedroom bungalow in the rural Border village.

Inside the house the young family lay dead in their beds, the usually picture perfect setting with rolling hills and countryside had turned into a scene of horror as neighbours woke up to the tragic news.

When the emergency services raced along the backroads of Doon and up the steep hill to the house after 7am they were met by raging flames and a fire so intense the roof was crumbling. It was -4 degrees outside.

It is likely, says a source, that the blaze had started hours earlier, then a short time later the roof fell in, hampering any attempts to retrieve the bodies.

Neighbours, including landlord Tommy Fee, tried in vain to gain access to the house using a sledgehammer but each time they peered through the blackened windows of each of the bedrooms they could see and hear nothing.

It’s understood a child’s cot was spotted in one of the rooms with investigators now desperately trying to locate the remains of a fourth victim, a baby, believed to be under the age of two.

There was also “a strong smell of petrol”, said another source, as local firefighters from Lisnaskea and Enniskillen tried desperately to fight the well developed fire.

Two rapid response paramedics, a paramedic officer and an ambulance were also called to the scene.

The male who was arrested on suspicion of murder stood in his bare feet at the entrance of the property.

After being placed in the back of a police Land Rover he was treated at the scene and following an assessment was taken to hospital by ambulance, with a police patrol car following behind.

The structural damage caused by the fire and the severe weather conditions, including plummeting temperatures, are compounding the search, police said in a press conference.

“It was ferocious in nature and has left a very complex crime scene,” said Senior Investigating Officer Detective Inspector Peter McKenna, speaking at Enniskillen Police Station.

“However, at this time I have specialist search and rescue teams working hard to try and identify those who have died.

Post mortem investigations are expected to follow and this will “assist officers in attempting to confirm the identity of all the victims.”

He thanked the public for their assistance and appealed for anyone who has any knowledge of the residents of 57 Molly Road, Doon, Derrylin to make contact with police in Enniskillen.

“Any information you may have, no matter how small in relation to the family, their network of friends, their contacts, may assist with the investigation.

“I would also like to hear from anyone who was in the area of the Molly Road between the hours of midnight on Monday through to 7.20am in the morning. I would ask that they contact detectives at Enniskillen on extension 101 or alternatively contact Crimestoppers," he said.