Turntable ladder during training exercises at Dun Laoghaire fire station
Talks ongoing to add Turntable ladder in Tallaght
Discussions between management and trade union representatives at Dublin Fire Brigade are examining the possibility of adding a new turntable ladder engine to Tallaght Fire Station.
Turntable ladders can reach up to 100 feet or 30 metres and are used to fight fires in higher-rise buildings or to pump water directly above onto larger fires as a ‘water tower’.
Currently there is one turntable ladder located at Dublin Fire Brigade’s HQ station in Townsend Street, as well as a 75ft/22.8m hydraulic platform at Dun Laoghaire fire station.
At the full council meeting on Monday, September 8, Cllr Eoin
Ó Broin asked if South Dublin County Council was in a position to “request that a fire brigade equipped with an elongated ladder that can reach higher floors of apartment blocks should be permanently stationed” at Tallaght fire station.
The two fire engines currently attached to Tallaght carry a number of different ladders according to the council’s reply, which all firefighters are trained in the use of.
These include a 13.5m ladder capable of reaching fourth floor windows, a 10m ladder capable of reaching the third floor, a 9’/16’ ladder, capable of reaching a first-floor window and a roof ladder.
The longer ladders stationed in Townsend St and Dun Laoghaire can be “dispatched if required”.
The council said that a “broader assessment of turntable ladder placement” is part of ongoing discussions between trade union representatives and management at Dublin Fire Brigade.
“The decision to augment the brigade’s capacity with an additional Turntable ladder in Tallaght is forming part of those discussions,” the reply from Teresa Walsh, SDCC director of climate action read.
“Unions and Management are due to meet under the auspice of the WRC in the coming weeks to advance these discussions.”
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
