A fireman who attended the Stardust blaze has described finding the remains of one of the victims inside the doors of an emergency exit "just two or three steps from safety".
James Tormey was giving evidence at the inquests into the 48 young people who died in the 1981 fire at the Artane nightclub.
The court heard how he had been a fireman for almost eight years at the time and was stationed at Tara Street.
He recalled how he saw the remains of a victim inside Emergency Exit 5.
The court heard how there were pieces of red jumper intermingled and underneath it was a gent's digital watch.
In court, he said: "My feeling was that poor individual was two or three steps away from safety."
He also described helping in the recovery operation and the removal of the victims from the building.
Mr Tormey described how he found two bodies on the steps of a seating area and that it seemed like they had their "young arms around each other" and said their bodies "were fused as one".
"I thought at the time, that those people were trying to comfort each other before their demise," he said.
Earlier, he told the court he arrived on the scene at around 2am and said as they were approaching the club he saw a "number of young people" and a "stream of taxis" coming down the road and said he knew then "we had a problem".
He said he assumed they were heading into the city’s hospitals.
Asked whether on arrival any staff of the Stardust offered any assistance or gave any information to them as they entered, Mr Tormey replied: "Not to me personally."
He told the court how he entered the building through Exit 3 and said at that stage, patrons were coming out in the opposite direction in a state of "distress and panic".
He recalled how he went to the backstage area and looked into the main hall.
Mr Tormey said the dancing area was covered in burning debris, there was a massive glow and the heat was intense. He said he took three steps in and his ears started to burn.
There was no visible sign of anyone trapped in the ballroom, he said, and added the temperature meant the possibility of survival would have been very slim.
The court also heard how he assisted in getting people out of the toilets and escorting them to safety.
Mr Tormey also told the inquests how attempts were made to pull the bars off the windows from the outside using a steel rope attached to a fire truck.
After the initial attempt, he said there "was no way we could move them".
The efforts were then abandoned as it was deemed too dangerous as there were too many people in the area.
At the start of the day’s proceedings, Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane again advised the families of the victims that the evidence would be distressing and graphic.
The inquests also heard from Brian Parkes, who was a sub-officer on the night and had been in the fire brigade since 1966.
He was in the North Strand Station when the call came in to get to the Stardust. He said they were not told what to expect and said there was no additional information.
Mr Parkes said as the crew was approaching from the Malahide Road, they could see 10 to 15ft high flames and he thought "right, the roof is gone".
When they arrived on the scene, he said crowds were milling around their appliance and thumping on it, telling the firefighters that their friends were inside. "They were in an awful state", he said in court.
He said when he and his crew got there he said "they didn't have to be told" it was a rescue.
Mr Parkes said such was the mayhem, it was a "free for all" and said it was a case of "get in and get them out".
The inquests heard how he helped in rescuing people from the backstage area and said he thought they were the last people who got out alive.
They also heard from Paul Porter who was based in Tara Street Station. He was in the brigade for six years at the time.
He told the inquests that he and other colleagues took a number of bodies out of the toilets near Exit 5.
The court heard how he did not know what state the bodies were in and said it was "pitch black with smoke and fumes".
He said the toilets did not have any windows nor "access to communication".
Mr Porter said the hardest part was that in his opinion they had suffocated and were not burnt.
The court heard how the "body map", which showed where the remains were located, did not indicate that any bodies were found in the club’s toilets.
The court also evidence from former fireman Willie Redmond and the statement that he gave gardaí in 1981 was read into the record today.
He said when he arrived on scene the whole building was a "mass of flames".
Mr Redmond described looking inside and seeing an "inferno" and said he saw the ceiling tiles were "falling down in big sheets".
He also recalled the recovery operation and told gardaí who he found two bodies near the stage, lying beside each other. He said they "appeared to be holding hands".
