Clare County Fire & Rescue Service experienced one of its busiest Christmas periods on record this year due to the stormy weather.
Weather-related call-outs accounted for almost two thirds of all incidents attended by the Fire Service between December 20th 2013 and January 3rd 2014.
70 of the 115 incidents attended by the Fire Service during the period involved falling trees on the night of December 26th at a cost of approximately €6,000 to the Fire Service.
Meanwhile, non-weather related callouts (45) were down across the County for a fourth successive year. The call-out figures for the period were less than those recorded during the corresponding periods in 2010, 2011 and 2012 when the Fire Service was mobilised to 81, 64 and 48 incidents respectively.
6 of the call-outs related to house fires with a further 6 call-outs involving chimney fires, while fire-fighters also attended 14 road-based incidents, 4 agricultural building fires, 3 storage building fires and 5 false alarm incidents.
Emergency call-outs during the Christmas period, including to storm-related incidents, were attended by Ennis Fire Brigade (61) followed by Shannon (23), Ennistymon (11), Scarriff (10), Killaloe (5), Kilrush (4) and Kilkee (1).
“This was one of the busiest periods experienced by Clare County Fire & Rescue Service since the serious flooding which affected Clare in November 2009,” explained Adrian Kelly, Chief Fire Officer.
“The extremely windy conditions s late on St. Stephen’s Day and in the early hours of December 27th brought down a lot of trees throughout the County leading to some roads being blocked. Furthermore, other roads were impassable for a time due to flooding brought about by heavy rain. Due to the assistance of members of the public, together with staff from Clare Local Authorities, we were able to deal quickly with these incidents so as to ensure any disruption was minimised.
Mr. Kelly noted that the mild conditions over the Christmas period had contributed to the lower number of call-outs to fire-related incidents.
The main causes of fire during the festive season are candles left unprotected, fairylights left on all night or improperly wired, Christmas trees falling over, open fires without fireguards, and decorations catching fire. Thankfully, the number of such incidents was lower than those recorded during recent years partly due to the milder weather conditions resulting in less use of open fires and increased fire safety awareness among members of the public.
In the event of a fire in your home “Get Out, Stay Out And Call the Fire Brigade Out”. The Fire Service can be contacted by dialling 999/112.
Weather-related call-outs accounted for almost two thirds of all incidents attended by the Fire Service between December 20th 2013 and January 3rd 2014.
70 of the 115 incidents attended by the Fire Service during the period involved falling trees on the night of December 26th at a cost of approximately €6,000 to the Fire Service.
Meanwhile, non-weather related callouts (45) were down across the County for a fourth successive year. The call-out figures for the period were less than those recorded during the corresponding periods in 2010, 2011 and 2012 when the Fire Service was mobilised to 81, 64 and 48 incidents respectively.
6 of the call-outs related to house fires with a further 6 call-outs involving chimney fires, while fire-fighters also attended 14 road-based incidents, 4 agricultural building fires, 3 storage building fires and 5 false alarm incidents.
Emergency call-outs during the Christmas period, including to storm-related incidents, were attended by Ennis Fire Brigade (61) followed by Shannon (23), Ennistymon (11), Scarriff (10), Killaloe (5), Kilrush (4) and Kilkee (1).
“This was one of the busiest periods experienced by Clare County Fire & Rescue Service since the serious flooding which affected Clare in November 2009,” explained Adrian Kelly, Chief Fire Officer.
“The extremely windy conditions s late on St. Stephen’s Day and in the early hours of December 27th brought down a lot of trees throughout the County leading to some roads being blocked. Furthermore, other roads were impassable for a time due to flooding brought about by heavy rain. Due to the assistance of members of the public, together with staff from Clare Local Authorities, we were able to deal quickly with these incidents so as to ensure any disruption was minimised.
Mr. Kelly noted that the mild conditions over the Christmas period had contributed to the lower number of call-outs to fire-related incidents.
The main causes of fire during the festive season are candles left unprotected, fairylights left on all night or improperly wired, Christmas trees falling over, open fires without fireguards, and decorations catching fire. Thankfully, the number of such incidents was lower than those recorded during recent years partly due to the milder weather conditions resulting in less use of open fires and increased fire safety awareness among members of the public.
In the event of a fire in your home “Get Out, Stay Out And Call the Fire Brigade Out”. The Fire Service can be contacted by dialling 999/112.
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