A Donegal County Councillor is calling for a full countywide inspection of fire hydrants amid concerns that ‘probably half are not working’.
Issues with fire hydrants were reported during recent serious fires in Castlefinn, Newtowncunningham and Letterkenny.
Last month, firefighters had to travel two miles to Liscooley to access water to battle a blaze at Tinney’s Bar in Castlefinn, because the water pressure was too low at the nearest hydrant.
“We can’t start playing table tennis with people’s lives,” Cllr Patrick McGowan told a meeting of Donegal County Council this week. “God forbid what could have happened in Castlefinn.”
Fire hydrant repairs are the responsibility of Uisce Eireann, but Cllr McGowan said he fears that the matter is not being taken seriously. He cited problems with hydrants during several fires in his constituency, namely Convoy, Castlefinn and Killygordon.
Cllr McGowan said he has contacted various Ministers and Uisce Eireann as a matter of urgency. “I have told them to waken up. I could guess that probably half of our fire hydrants are not working,” he said.
Cllr McGowan said some of Donegal’s fire hydrants haven’t been inspected in many years.
“Various members (councillors) have asked that our Fire Service would check them, not occasionally, routinely. They need to check every town and village and then report to Irish Water, because by the looks of things, Irish Water don’t intend to act at all,” Cllr McGowan said.
Chief Executive John McLaughlin stressed that the responsibility does sit with Uisce Eireann. This was echoed by Director of Emergency Services Mr Garry Martin.
The maintenance of fire hydrants on the public water network rested with the Sanitary Authority under the Fire Services Act, 1981 and transferred to Irish Water when it was established as the service provider.
Mr Martin said there is a structured system for the local authority to report issues with the water supply used by the Fire Service.
“We can’t force them (Uisce Eireann) to do anything about it, we can’t give them a timeline, but the legislation is very clear that is where the responsibility lies,” Mr Martin said.
“It’s not about passing the buck, our responsibility for fire safety is taken very seriously, but we can’t go beyond what our legal responsibilities are.”
Mr Martin asked members to raise their issues through their own avenues, adding “it’s quite clear this is something that is happening nationally.”
