Fire chief welcomes investment
COUNTY Wexford’s fire chief Paul L’Estrange welcomed the €1.6m investment by the department into fire services in the New Ross district, saying the county has received an unrivalled level of funding for upgrading its fire service.
Mr L’Estrange said €2.8m of departmental funding is being allocated to the county over a five year period.
He said a number of courses will be run for local fire fighters during this period.
He said: ‘Fire safety courses will be run for all fire fighters on a three year rotation cycle.’
He announced that two days previously Wexford County Council and Waterford Institute of Technology got approval for a Fire Engineering degree course to begin in September 2018 at the college.
Mr L’Estrange said restaurants, cinemas and nursing homes will be visited by junior fire fighters as part of a new fire safety programme and for inspections. The inspections - which already take place at pubs and nightclubs - ensure escape and other regulations are complied with.
He said the service hopes to maintain its current staffing levels and possibly to increase the New Ross crew from 14 to 15.
He said the new €250,000 fire tender purchased for New Ross last month could be joined by another new fire tender later this year. A new jeep and water tanker has also been purchased for the New Ross district, while the new fire station - which is expected to cost over €1.2m to build - is due to open in 2019, with work due to begin on site next year.
Mr L’Estrange said: ‘We don’t intend to dilly-dally. I haven’t missed a deadline yet in my career
‘ There was originally €1.6m allocated but site acquistion rules were changed by the department and now the department won’t reimburse councils for site purchases. We have a perfectly adequate site on 2.5 acres. We won’t need to use all of that space.’
He said some fire fighters live within half a minute from where the new station will be located behind the water tower on the ring road at Hewittsland. Mr L’Estrange said the new water tanker will ensure there is access to much more water for fire fighters.
‘ There’s nothing worse than being outside a house you know you could save but for the lack of a water tanker,’ he said.
Funding has been sought to upgrade the fire service’s equipment, including for air lifting mats and consaws for cutting open cars following accidents and for gaining entry to industrial buildings.
‘It’s working out quite well for us and I don’t think any other local authority outside of Dublin is getting that level of funding.’
He said a water survey of the county’s fire hydrants will be carried out by fire fighters over the coming years, with one fifth of hydrants being checked every year.
Mr L’Estrange said the way mobilisation times is recorded has been changed and now mobilisation times are reduced from ten minutes to under six minutes, adding that in the past the figures were skewed.
A community fire service safety plan is being introduced which aims to reduce the likelihood of fires in areas outside the 20 minute radius from the New Ross station.
Mr L’Estrange said stress management for fire fighters is an important area which is being addressed.
‘With anyone who has to deal with incidents that fire staff have to deal with you have to monitor staff to ensure their mental health is where it should be at.’
He said the county’s fire service is moving from analogue to digital systems.
Plans to work more closely with the Civil Defence were discussed, in flooding and gorse
fire incidents on Mount Leinster as the civil defence have drones wich can assist in assessing the scale of fires.
Cathaoirleach Cllr Michael Whelan asked if a fire station for Wellingtonbridge is planned to access outlying areas like Duncannon and the Hook Peninsula.
Mr L’Estrange said these areas are beyond the 20 minute area which is the ideal for fire fighting. He said significant investment is required to maintain fire equipment and staff training, adding: ‘If there is no physical solution there is a management solution.’
He said he is confident programmes initiated by the fire service will mitigtate the risk of fires in the Hook.
Cllr Oisin O’Connell welcomed the news that the fire service will be working more closely with agencies like the Civil Defence.
Cllr Michael Sheehan thanked the firemen and firewomen of the county for their service.
He asked about what will happen the old fire station on Michael Street and if it will continue to be used for training.
Mr L’Estrange confirmed that it will no longer be needed by the fire service.