Dublin Fire Brigade continue to monitor Greenogue fire site
By Mary Dennehy
DUBLIN Fire Brigade remained at the scene of a large blaze at a recycling facility in Greenogue on Wednesday, with one crew on-site to dampen down any remaining pockets of fire.
Shortly after midnight on Tuesday (August 21), Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) responded to a call-out to the facility in the Rathcoole/Newcastle area, where large amounts of recycling material were on fire.
The blaze in the early hours of Tuesday morning (Pic: DFB)
The smoke plume from the fire was visible from the Naas Road, with DFB advising people on the N7 and M50 to drive with caution and to not get distracted by the smoke.
People living downwind of the fire were also advised to close windows as a precaution, with reports of a number of residents waking up on Tuesday morning to find ash on their cars.
On Tuesday, the EPA Air Quality team carried out indicative monitoring close to the site of the fire to assess for residual air pollution.
Following “short-term indicative” monitoring, the EPA reiterated the DFB advice to avoid the area, stay upwind and, if downwind, close windows.
The smoke plume on Tuesday morning (Pic: DFB)
In recent days, the Green Party has called for a review of Waste Licensing after the blaze.
The party’s Dublin spokesperson councillor Ciaran Cuffe said: “As recycling depots expand we need to ensure that the public are adequately protected.
“After three major fires at recycling plants in Dublin in recent years it seems clear that we need to improve both monitoring and licensing procedures for such facilities.
DFB remained at the scene to dampen down any pockets of fire (Pic: DFB)
“Vast amounts of toxic substances are being released into the air each time a fire like this breaks out.
“Minister Naughten [Communications, Climate Action and Environment] needs to reduce the risk of such fires recurring and review the licensing procedures and monitoring for such plants.”
Dublin Mid-West Green Party local representative, Peter Kavanagh said: “Residents are deeply concerned about toxins being released into the air from recycling plants during incidents such as this, so a review of the licensing procedures and better monitoring of these facilities would go a long way to alleviating these concerns.”
Investigations into the cause of the fire are continuing.
