Concern raised over pre-determined attendance of fire services to Tycor fire

Concerns have been raised over the Pre-Determined Attendance (PDA) of fire services to tackle the Tycor Centre/Jute Factory fire in Waterford city last weekend.

The vast majority of incidents requiring fire service attendance utilise the Pre-Determined Attendances (PDA) protocol, which dictates exactly how many fire engines and what type of specialist equipment should be automatically sent to an emergency.

Cllr Declan Clune said last week that fire services from county Tipperary were deployed to the scene in Waterford.

“I want to firstly acknowledge and commend the professionalism of the Waterford city fire service and all the emergency services for the action they took” Cllr Clune said.

“I want to talk however about Pre Defined Attendance (PDA). I specifically want to highlight the fact that Carrick-on-Suir fire service were called to the incident to act as a backup to the city while the city fire service were attending the Jute Factory 

“For Carrick to come down they would have had to bypass Portlaw and Kilmacthomas and I’m just wondering how does it make any sense to bring in a fire unit from another county who are very well trained and very professional, but who have limited knowledge of Waterford city.

 “It doesn’t make any sense to me that we have our own units in Portlaw and Kilmacthomas, but in the first instance Carrick-on-Suir were called. I don’t understand why and the fire fighters in Portlaw and Kilmacthomas don’t understand why either.” 

In response, Director of Services at Waterford City and County Council, Seamus De Faoite, said he would bring Cllr Clune’s comments to the Chief Fire Officer.

Mr. De Faoite added: “What I will say is that this is being looked at on a county wide basis and there is a review taking place.” 

(Funded by the Local Democracy Scheme)