In the original version the line, which makes perfect sense, is 'Somebody said to mcIntyre. He was one of the drinkers, and appears in a later verse, rarely sung today

We got so drunk that we did not know the blooming cellar had caught fire.
Poor old Jones had the D.T.'s bad and wanted to retire.
"There's Old Nick," said another poor chap, "and he's poking the blooming fire.
"That's no bogy. It's a fireman, Tom, at least," said Macintyre.