Dublin Fire Brigade reports decrease in Halloween call-outs
INCLEMENT weather, members of the public playing their part and a significant waste removal campaign by local authorities all contributed to a decrease in fire calls on Halloween night.
According to Dublin City Council, Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) received 186 fire calls from midnight on October 31 to midnight on November 1, of these 133 were related to Halloween.
The volume of calls was significantly down this year when compared with the same period in 2020, when 415 fire calls were received, 323 of which were Halloween related.
While calls were down by more than 50 per cent, DFB responded to a number of dangerous Halloween-related incidents across local communities.
In Liffey Valley, firefighters extinguished a car that had been driven into a bonfire, while gas cylinders were discovered thrown into a separate blaze in Clondalkin.
Working closely with gardai, a large bonfire was extinguished in Crumlin while in Rathfarnham, firefighters extinguished a blaze that was spreading to trees.
DFB extinguising a fire that had spread to trees in Rathfarnham (Image: Dublin Fire Brigade)
Taking to Twitter on Halloween night, DFB said: “While we wanted everyone to enjoy their Halloween celebrations, if a fire was dangerous we would intervene to extinguish it.”
Dublin Fire Brigade has created an interactive map which details reported bonfires across the city on Halloween – with around 10 reported bonfires listed for the Tallaght area.
A number of reported bonfires were also located in Clondalkin, Lucan, Walkinstown, Rathfarnham and Ballyfermot.
According to a statement released by Dublin City Council on the Monday following Halloween: “Inclement weather, members of the public playing their part and a significant waste removal campaign by local authorities all helped enormously with fire calls on Halloween night.
“In addition, family friendly community events supported by the four local authorities led to a decrease in Halloween related emergency incidents. Dublin Fire Brigade received 186 fire calls from midnight on 31st October to midnight on 1st November.
“Of these, 133 were fires related to Halloween.”
The spokesperson added: “Our emergency ambulance service received 483 calls during the same period.
“One person was injured by a firework exploding.
“Most fires required no intervention and there was limited anti-social behaviour towards our firefighter/paramedics.
“One fire appliance from the South City suffered damage to its windscreen, none of the crew were injured.
“We would like to thank everyone that took a responsible approach to the Halloween celebrations and also took heed of our safety advice during the preceding month.”
The map of reported bonfires has been shared on DFB’s Twitter account.
