A family in Ballyfermot in Dublin has said it was like "waking up in hell" after their home was firebombed in the early hours of the morning last week.
Breda and Pat Curran, along with their son Luke, were sleeping when a petrol bomb was thrown through a window, engulfing the living room in flames.
All three were treated for non life-threatening injuries, but their family dog died in the blaze.
Gardaí believe it was a case of mistaken identity and the wrong home was attacked.
Breda Curran said she had gone to bed at around 10.30pm that evening while her husband fell asleep on the sofa.
She said she woke up just before 2.30am to the sound of his screams and a "big crashing" noise.
"I heard Luke [the couple's son] screaming and running down the stairs saying 'me Da, me Da'," she recalled.
"I jumped up and ran down the stairs and as I was coming down, I could feel the heat coming up the stairs. It wasn't a normal heat, I knew."
Pat Curran said he woke up to the sound of breaking glass and saw the fire in front of him.
"It was like waking up in hell, that's all I can equate it to ... I had a blanket on me and I threw it on the fire and tried to stamp it out. I don't know how I didn't go on fire," he said.
"All I did was start screaming for Breda. The thought came into my head - what did I do? Did I do something to cause this? This is an evil that came to our house."
Ms Curran said the family ran into the garden to get the hose and tried to get back inside to find their dog.
"He hadn't come out. We were calling his name but the heat wouldn't let us back in. I went back in as far as the hallway to the sitting room door but the fire was everywhere," she said.
"I was looking and saying to myself, where did this start? The whole place was up in flames. I knew we can't go in there, we'd die.
"We tried to call the dog but it was too late. We heard him whimpering. We didn't hear anything else after that then. Everything went silent except for the fire. We were just out on the road watching the house go on fire."
She said she loves her home but doesn't know if she can ever return as she is not sure she would ever feel safe there again.
Both she and her husband praised their neighbours and local community for their help and support.
"The neighbours are so good. We were here yesterday clearing stuff out and the neighbours came over and said they were really sorry. They were very generous, they even gave us money," Ms Curran said.
"Strangers on the street came up to us offering help," added Mr Curran.
"The community spirit in Ballyfermot is never talked about but the respect, compassion and goodwill that's after coming from this community, it's something to be admired and it keeps me going."
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