Dublin Fire Brigade Responds To 1,100 Calls On Halloween Night

Dublin Fire Brigade has revealed it responded to 1,100 emergency calls during Halloween night.

On what is normally the service's busiest night of the year, there were also reports of attacks on fire crews while Dublin Bus was forced to withdraw its service in part of the city.

Fine Gael Deputy for Dublin North West, Noel Rock, said officials confirmed to him this was a "busier year in their experience than any of the last five".

"According to the Dublin Fire Brigade, they received a massive 1,100 calls yesterday, 70% of which were due to Halloween," he said.

"This shows the volume of Halloween related issues they had to deal with, particularly with bonfires taking place close to people's homes. It also reminds us that 30% of their calls were genuine people dealing with non-Halloween related fires.

"The ordinary daily work of the Fire Brigade had to continue despite the increased pressure placed on their services due to Halloween.

"Furthermore it is completely unacceptable that some fire crews were attacked when out doing their jobs. Also unacceptable is the fact that Dublin Bus had to withdraw service from the 79 and 79A route last night because of anti-social behaviour.

"It's clear that when it comes to fireworks and antisocial behaviour, we need far more robust enforcement. It's clear that laws are not being properly enforced here and the overwhelming view of people is that this needs to be more strictly applied."

(LM)