A west Donegal councillor is calling for a full audit of fire hydrants after it emerged emergency service personnel were unable to access one during last week’s gorse catastrophe.
Councillor Micheal Mac Giolla Easbuig has made a number of proposals in the wake of the devastating blazes, including that all hydrants be inspected.
“Firefighters at the local gorse fire during the week were unable to access a hydrant at Beal Cruite National School because it had been tarred over. I am calling for Irish Water and Donegal County Council to fully audit each and every fire hydrant in the county to make sure that this never happens again,” the independent councillor said.
Cllr Micheal Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig.
“These fires are a regular occurrence at this time of the year and we must do all we can to ensure that firefighters have access to water to deal with these emergencies.
“After talking today to officials from the council with responsibility for firefighting in the county, I have made the following proposals: I suggested that a GPS system should be set in place so that the position of every hydrant is easily seen by firefighters and I also proposed that a system of first responders should be set up so that training would be provided on the best way to deal with gorse fires. I have also requested that equipment for fighting fires would be made available at suitable venues throughout the county.”
Councillor Mac Giolla Easbuig added, “We should never again run the risk of losing property or lives to fires that happen regularly. My thanks again to all the people in our community who came out and bravely fought the fires.”
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere
SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT EDITION TODAY
and get access to our archive editions dating back to 2007(CLICK ON THE TITLE BELOW TO SUBSCRIBE)