Updated at 22.46pm
DUBLIN FIRE BRIGADE has dealt with well over a hundred call outs today as units across the city contend with a large number of blazes as a result of Halloween.
On what is always one of the busiest days of the year for the force, fire officers have been dealing with bonfires, domestic fires as well as other Halloween-related incidents.
Between 9am and 5pm today, DFB responded to 59 fire calls. Since then, there have been numerous reported incidents, including bonfires, fire from fireworks, car fires, pallets on fire as well as domestic fires and others.
Units from North Strand Station were called out earlier this evening to a large fire at a bonfire complex.
Units from Swords and Skerries extinguished a fire off the M1 near Lusk.
There are numerous other incident spread out across the city, including in Finglas, Ballymun, Rathfarnham and many other areas.
Commenting on the fires, Fine Gael TD for Dublin North West Noel Rock said that he had never received as many complaints from people around the number of incidents as this year.
“Quite clear that between that gardaí and teh council something has gone wrong this year in relation to the deterrence of using illegal fireworks and bangers,” he said.
“I’ve never had as many complaints in any year as I have tonight in relation to fireworks, bangers, antisocial behaviour and dumped materials.
Even fire brigade officials have confirmed to me that this is already a busier year in their experience that any of the last five.
For the first time, DFB has a live interactive Google Map to track all Halloween-related incidents reported to 999 today.
DFB say that all reported fires will be assessed, but “not necessarily extinguished if they do not represent a danger to life or property”.
The map shows that DFB responded to three car fires in both Ballymun and Coolock respectively.
Firefighters responded to a fire at a playground in Baldoyle.
Meanwhile, units from Dolphin’s Barn station attended a large bonfire in the Crumlin area earlier today.
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Most other incidents scattered around north and south Dublin include bonfires, park fires, pallets on fire and trees on fire.
Between Monday and Saturday last week, DFB attended the scene of 126 Halloween-related fires in Dublin.
Dublin Fire Brigade asked people to remain safe tonight, with Dublin City Council putting on a number of events.
The Minister for the Environment Denis Naughton earlier told the public that bonfires are illegal under waste legislation. The law states that it is an offence to dispose of waste by uncontrolled or unregulated burning.
“The reality is that some people will be determined to engage in Halloween bonfires in our public spaces and on our waste-ground in communities with potentially devastating safety, health and environmental effects,” Naughton said.
I am appealing to the public to think about the consequences of starting bonfires, not just from a public safety and legal perspective, but on an environmental and health grounds as well.
“The burning of tyres, particularly, has detrimental health and environmental effects, not just those standing close to these fires but for the wider community as fumes travel and for emergency services personnel that will have to respond,” he said.
People are advised to keep pets indoors and respect emergency services as they do their jobs.
With reporting from Cormac Fitzgerald
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