‘We were three mins away from full-scale devastation’

When fire ripped through the kitchen of the much-loved Plough pub in the early hours of 7 July, co-owner Sean Hughes feared the worst. A few months on, Sean talks to Angie Cronin about that fateful night, the incredible fire service and how the pub has bounced back

The most common cause of household fires is overheating pots and pans in the kitchen; overheated tea towels is not something that most people considered to be a fire hazard, but that is what was the cause of the fire at the Plough pub in Sleapshyde earlier this year.

“I had no idea that tea towels taken from a tumble dryer and put in a laundry basket could spontaneously combust hours afterwards,” says Sean Hughes, co-owner of The Plough, Dylans and The Boot. “But after two investigations, spontaneous combustion of tea towels was found to be the cause.”

The fire started at 4am, four hours after the towels had been taken out of the tumble dryer; they had smouldered in the laundry basket and caught fire, destroying most of The Plough’s kitchen in 20 minutes.

Sean’s brother Tim and his financé Rachel live at the pub and had a very lucky escape thanks to the fire and burglar

alarms, and of course, the local firefighters. “We were lucky and we owe it to the incredible fire service for their speed in getting to the pub.

“Our outside shed area and kitchen were significantly damaged but the fire service was so fast getting there that they saved the oldest part of the building plus the main structure of the kitchen,” adds Sean.

“We were all in a huge state of shock as the pub had been three minutes away from a full-scale destruction of not only the building but possibly life.” The support of the local community and the hard work of Sean and his team ensured that The Plough bounced back

quickly, installing a braai coal barbecue in the garden to ensure that the pub could continue to serve a full menu.

Three months on, Christmas is sizing up to be a particularly special one for Sean and his team with lots of events planned, including Christmas wreath-making classes with Flower Box at The Plough.

Dylans is having its very own advent calendar, which will go live on Facebook on 1 December at 11am, and the Santa Paws event will be making a welcome return on the 3 December at The Boot, with customers being invited to enjoy an evening with their pooch at the pub.

The Boot will also be transformed into an alpine ski lodge across Christmas with a melted raclette cheese menu as well as an ultimate Christmas roast lunch menu and an alpine lodge snacking menu for pre-orders in the evening.

The Plough, The Boot and Dylans are also now taking bookings for Christmas dinner dylanstheplough.com dylanskingsarms.com