Third ESB pole fire in seven months
Members of Mitchelstown fire brigade attended the scene of an electricity pole fire on Lower Cork Street on Friday 14th January, just after lunchtime, the third in the district since last July.
A fire on the top of the ESB pole right outside Finn’s Butchers was visible at approximately 2.30pm on the Friday afternoon. A motorist was just in the act of parking her car under the telephone pole, when a passer-by alerted her to the fire overhead.
The fire unit were called, and were on-site by 2.45pm. The fire was extinguished shortly thereafter, and the scene made safe until the ESB arrived.
ESB Networks confirmed the small fire, and had crews mobilised immediately on being notified. According to the ESB, the fault was identified as being caused by a failed connector at the pole top.
“Two customers were impacted by this fault and following repair works by our crews, they had their power restored less than two hours after the incident occurred.”
They thanked those who contacted them on Friday, and apologised to those impacted for the inconvenience caused.
At the start of the month, an ESB pole fire was extinguised in Fermoy on Oliver Plunkett Hill while last July, an ESB pole was observed on fire in New Market Square in Mitchelstown, caused by an overheated fuse.
The ESB reminded the public to always call them immediately on 1800 372 999 should they notice any damage to ESB infrastructure.
GRASS FIRE
More recently on Monday evening at 3.30pm, Mitchelstown
Fire Brigade was called to a large grass fire on the outskirts of Kildorrery, towards Ballyhoura. Assisted by Mallow, the units brought the fire under control in under two hours, luckily getting the issue dealt with before it reached a small forestry.
The fire brigade are continuing their series of road safety demonstrations at local schools, and recently showed the boys of CBS Mitchelstown the reality of what it means to cut someone out of a car. Fire station officer Bob Dalton told how the students paid full attention, and asked many questions and were ‘ very engaged’, a statement echoed by Caroline Casey, safety officer with Cork County Council.