Man who died after being rescued from Omagh house fire is named - 'I can only imagine what they are going through given the extremely difficult circumstances'

In a statement the PSNI say that the man who died in a residential fire in Omagh today was 52-year-old Andrew Halliday.

He died after a fire in the Edinburgh Park area was reported to police today, Wednesday 18th January, at 6am.

Police attended along with colleagues from other emergency services.

The PSNI statement adds that the cause of the fire has not yet been determined - and will be subject to investigation in liaison with the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.

Earlier in a statement Mark Deeney, Assistant Chief Fire & Rescue Officer from the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said: “On Wednesday 18 January at 5.39am, Firefighters were called to reports of a fire in a 2 storey terraced house in Edinburgh Park, Omagh.

"Three Fire Appliances attended the incident - 1 from Omagh, 1 from Dromore and 1 from Fintona.

"Firefighters rescued a man from the house and extinguished the fire.

"They administered first aid to the casualty, but tragically he died at the scene.

“The thoughts and sympathies of Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service are with his loved ones at this time.

“The cause of the fire is under investigation.”

SDLP West Tyrone MLA Daniel McCrossan has expressed his condolences after the sad death this morning.

Mr McCrossan said: "I’d like to offer my sincerest condolences to the family and friends of the man who passed away following a house fire in the Edinburgh Park area on Wednesday morning.

" It is never easy to lose a loved one and I can only imagine what they are going through given the extremely difficult circumstances involved.

“I’d also like to thank the fire service and police officers who responded to this incident and extinguished the fire.

"It is never easy to be called out to incidents like this, but they play an important role in our community and we would be much worse off without them.”