Paddy Quinn told the Omagh Bombing Inquiry that he has never revealed to his wife what he witnessed on the day, and for years avoided returning to the site.
One of the first firefighters to respond to the Omagh bombing said he has never witnessed anything in three decades which comes close to the scenes of devastation on the day.
Mr Quinn said he had avoided the Market Street area in the Co Tyrone town, where the car bomb exploded, for years.
Mr Quinn was a part-time firefighter on the day of the bombing and is currently temporary district commander for the Omagh district in the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.
Mr Quinn added: “In these 29 years I have attended many tragic and horrendous incidents, but nothing I have responded to since the Omagh bomb has ever come anywhere close.”.
