A Killarney community has been left reeling following a devastating accidental fire that occurred during a neighbourhood gathering over the weekend.

Kristina Zajec and her five-year-old son, Tom, are currently fighting for their lives in a Dublin hospital after a fire pit incident escalated rapidly, leaving them both in induced comas with severe, life-changing burn injuries.

The incident occurred on Saturday night at approximately 10:30pm in the Loreto area of Killarney.

Residents from the estate had gathered for a barbecue to bid farewell to a local family who were returning to Poland.

Kristina and her young son, who are of Croatian descent but have been living locally for several years, were attending the gathering as guests when the tragedy occurred.

According to eyewitness accounts, an accelerant was placed onto an open fire pit during the evening.

The substance ignited within seconds, causing a sudden flash of flame to travel back along the stream of fuel directly into the bottle.

In a moment of panic, the individual holding the bottle dropped or threw it, causing the burning fuel to scatter across the yard where onlookers were standing.

Emergency services were alerted immediately, with three ambulances from Tralee, a fire brigade unit, and two Garda cars dispatched to the scene.

In the immediate aftermath of the flash, the mother and son were brought inside the house and placed in cold bathwater to soothe their injuries while awaiting the arrival of medical personnel, who reached the estate in less than twenty minutes.

Six people were initially taken by road ambulance to University Hospital Kerry in Tralee for treatment.

Once medical teams assessed the extent of the injuries, it was determined that Kristina and Tom had suffered severe, critical burns.

Due to the severity of their condition, both were subsequently transferred by air ambulance to a specialist intensive care and burns unit in Dublin, where they remain in a serious condition.

The tragedy has deeply affected the local neighbourhood, particularly given the stressful circumstances already facing many residents in the area, some of whom are currently navigating long-term rental property exits.

The weekend barbecue had been organised as a supportive send-off for neighbours before the accident occurred.

In response to the tragedy, an immediate fundraising campaign has been launched to assist the family with the mounting emotional and financial burdens they now face.
A GoFundMe page established on Monday has already seen an overwhelming response from the public, raising over €22,000 within its first few days.

Organisers of the fund say that the family faces a long, painful, and critical road to recovery that will require long-term specialised burn treatments and significant medical expenses.

Tom is a pupil at the nearby Scoil Bhríde Loreto National School, where his classmates and teachers have been deeply upset by the news.

To school is organising a dedicated non-uniform day to generate further funds for the family's medical and recovery costs.