Waterford fire services received more than 20 malicious calls this year
The figures shared at the Dungarvan-Lismore District Council show that the fire service responded to 1,259 calls in the year to date. Stock Image.
Waterford fire services received 22 malicious false alarm reports this year.
The year-to-date figures were shared at the November sitting of the Dungarvan-Lismore District Council.
The ten stations across the county responded to 1,259 callouts, which included fires and false alarms, but also special services like road traffic accidents, road hazards, chemical incidents, flooding and non-fire related rescues.
Councillor Thomas Phelan said he would take the opportunity to thank the fire services for all the work they do.
“Both for fighting fires and what they do behind the scenes, which was very well represented in the report here. So, I wanted to take the opportunity to recognise all the work they do and thank them for it.
Cllr John Pratt said he also wanted to thank the fire staff, including their colleague Cllr Donnchadh Mulcahy.
“They do phenomenal work and people sometimes take it for granted,” said Cllr Pratt.
Cllr Pratt went on to say that the fire service always seems to come when they are called, and he has seen cases recently where the ambulance service and gardaí did not.
“We need to depend on our emergency services and there needs to be a timescale in which they need to be in attendance at whatever the issue is. 99 out of 100 times they are called because they are needed,” said Cllr Pratt.
Across the county, the fire services responded to 589 fires in the year-to-date.
In September, which was the most recent figures, there were 96 fires, eight in the metropolitan area and eight in the Dungarvan-Lismore district.
Special services accounted for 442 incidents this year, with 47 of those in September.
The metropolitan area had the highest number of incidents at 25, followed by Dungarvan-Lismore with 18 and the Comeragh district with four.
While 22 people called the fire service maliciously, most false alarms were from people with good intentions.
Those accounted for 206 incidents in the year to October and 27 in September.
The highest number of false alarms with good intent was again in the Metropolitan area (21), with Comeragh and Dungarvan-Lismore at three each.
Cllr Phelan said that it’s good to see a low number of malicious calls.
“While I think it is higher than we would like, it’s good to see it isn’t a massive problem. Obviously, we would like to see no malicious false alarms at all.
"But again, I want to thank the fire service. They do fantastic work, said Cllr Phelan.
The fire services also received 73 applications for fire certs in the year to date, an increase on the 2024 total of 61.
