MALICIOUSLY set grass fires have led to a massive 26% increase in the activities of Carlow Fire and Rescue Services over the first six months of 2013.
Speaking at a recent meeting of Carlow Co Council, chief fire officer Ger Guerin stated that the service had to deal with 193 incidents across the county in the first six months of 2012, which shot up to 244 over the same period in 2013.
“There has been a 26% increase in out operational activity, the vast majority of which is down to grass fires, maliciously caused and set,” he stated. “We had a case during the summer where we received four calls to the same field in Carlow town in one day, a similar incident happened in Tullow at 2am,” Mr Guerin said.
“This is of grave concern to us, as we try to deliver a high quality fire and rescue service … this is a drain on our resources and a waste of valuable funds,” he added.
Carlow Fire Brigade was called out to 125 incidents from January to June 2013, compared to 107 for the same period in 2012; Bagenalstown Fire Brigade 61 for the first six months of 2012 compared to 67 in 2013, while Hacketstown Fire Brigade dealt with six cases over the first six months in 2012, which shot up to 11 in 2013.
Tullow Fire Brigade, however, experienced the largest pressure on its resources, going from 19 incidents from January to June in 2012 to a massive 41 incidents for the same period in 2013.
Cllr Michael Doran asked if, despite the extensive educational initiative undertaken by the service, the message of fire safety “was still not getting through.” Cllr John Pender asked if there were adequate staffing levels in both Tullow and Hacketstown to deal with the increased demand.
Mr Guerin stated that the number of firefighters in Tullow had been reduced to 11 from 13, but that the service was currently undergoing a comprehensive risk assessment of the entire county “in a way it never has been done in this county or anywhere else in the country before.” Mr Guerin expected the results of this survey to be available in October and its findings to shape Carlow Fire and Rescue Service’s policy and services into the future.
