It looked like Armageddon. For some, it probably felt like it.
As plumes of black smoke billowed over the skyline of the Azzurri Walsh Park as Waterford hosted Cork in the Munster SHC, there was initial confusion over its root cause.
Soon it became clear the fire was stemming from the Tycor Business Centre just streets away, colloquially known as the old Jute Factory.
In the hours that followed, the full extent of the damage came to light.
What had begun as a small fire in the centre of the complex had soon crescendoed into a mass blaze as flames roared into the sky and spat out dust particles from the asbestos-insulated roof.
The centre housed around 50 units and supported the jobs of more than 200 people. For some, the electrics in their premises may have been damaged. For others, all their assets, from cars to instruments to food pallets, were burnt and left beyond repair.
Three months after the fire, many of those 200 people affected are questioning if it will ever be possible to build back from the ashes.
“We're all left in limbo,” says Blánaid MacCann, the owner of costume design company NoMac Productions.
For almost 40 years, she had been building NoMac, designing costumes used in theatre sets across the country. In the space of hours, thousands of costumes and a lifetime of work were eviscerated by the fire.
By her own admission, she is close to retirement age. Finding the willpower, as well as the finances, to rebuild her company and pass it over to the next generation has been gruelling.
“Rental is crazy money if you can get it,” she says. “I've been in every nook and cranny, every estate, and saying: ‘Who owns this place, and can you give me a number for them?’ and whatever. There isn't a matchbox available.”
State bodies were initially quick to act in the wake of the fire.
Within 72 hours, the business owners and social enterprises that comprised the old Jute Factory were convened in a closed-door meeting at the Tower Hotel in Waterford City.
Enterprise minister Peter Burke, representatives from Waterford City and County Council, and Sean Johnstone, CEO of Causeway Group — the property developer that owns most of Tycor — all spoke at the meeting.
A pot of €750,000 was to be administered for the group affected by the fire. A payment of €5,000 was to be handed out ex gratia, while further supports of up to €25,000 would be doled out on a case-by-case basis, pending independent financial assessments.