Equipment badly damaged in former fire station

Expensive first aid equipment has been stored in the former Portlaw Fire Station for years, and may now need to be dumped, a local councillor has said.

Issues with the building have been prevalent for years, long before Fire Service operations were moved away from the property and into the new Portlaw Fire Station in 2015.

These problems still exist today, in the building which is owned by Waterford City and County Council, but now used as an ambulance base for the Portlaw Branch of the Irish Red Cross.

Portlaw based Independent councillor, Declan Clune, said this week that the interior of the building is damp, which has led to equipment being damaged.

Cllr Clune said that the building has become unfit for purpose, and that the Council need to undertake works to improve its condition.

“The Council has inspected the building and we have agreed to a programme of works for it, but it has fallen into significant disrepair" he said.

“All the equipment in there is getting very, very damp and unusable. There is literally thousands of euros worth of first aid equipment that will need to be dumped."

Cllr Clune added that he wants to see remediation works done to the building, as the Irish Red Cross recently fundraised for a new ambulance which will now need to be parked in the building.

He commented: “The Irish Red Cross only got the ambulance because they would have assumed the repairs would be done by now and the place would be fit for purpose.” 

Seamus De Faoite, Waterford City and County Council Director of Services, said he would be looking into the matter, and would revert back to Cllr Clune with updates.

(Funded by the Local Democracy Scheme)