House went on fire close to city – unmanned fire station in Tramore was called
Waterford Fire Station at Kilbarry: “Fire tenders who dispatched at the time were a considerable distance from the house, even though we had the Waterford fire station closest as the crow flies.”
The boundaries for the Waterford fire station were called into question at a recent meeting of the Metropolitan District Council.
A fire in a home on the Tramore Road on the late evening of Thursday, April 9, resulted in one person being seriously injured and subsequently transferred to the burns unit in Dublin. The emergency call was directed to the Tramore fire station, which is not manned 24/7 and was not manned at the time.
Sinn Féin Councillor Jim Griffin raised the issue first.
He said, “Fire tenders who dispatched at the time were a considerable distance from the house, even though we had the Waterford fire station closest as the crow flies.”
He asked if the council would “seriously” look into how fire stations are allocated based on location.
Metropolitan Mayor Cllr Adam Wyse supported Councillor Griffin on the issue and said he had also spoken to the family involved.
Social Democrat Councillor Mary Roche said at the meeting that Waterford fire station, which is manned 24/7, is “far, far closer” but was not contacted. Cllr Roche called for “a report on the current predetermined attendance policy procedure in the council.”
Cllr Roche told the council that she “has a suspicion” that the boundaries are a “hangover from pre-amalgamation days.”
She continued, “The closest service, particularly if it is a manned service, should always be called in very serious circumstances like this one.”
Cllr Roche told the that the house “is at a max five minutes away from the manned fire station in Kilbarry.”
She said, “Nobody did anything wrong, but the call should have gone to the city because the city is by far the closest fire station to this house.”
Cllr Roche said that the fire services gave a “good response”, but the boundaries need to be reviewed.
Cllr Roche said that a full report should be carried out in case there are any other houses in the same circumstances to ensure the fire services can respond as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Waterford City and County Council did not commit to carrying out the report at the meeting but said they would refer it to the Director of Services.
In a statement to the Waterford News & Star, Waterford City and County Council said:
"Waterford Fire Service was alerted to a house fire at Duagh, Waterford at 20:37hrs on the evening of 9th April. The fire was responded to by brigades from Tramore and Dunmore East. Waterford City and County Council are continuing to review this matter."
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