'Perfect storm' - Over 300 calls to Dublin Fire Brigade

Dublin Fire Brigade said it has received more calls so far this evening than over all of Halloween night last year.

Chief Fire Officer Greg O'Dwyer said they had received 347 calls up to 8pm, of which 281 were Halloween-related.

This is an increase from the 320 fire calls responded to on 31 October last year. 276 of these were Halloween-related.

The number of ambulance calls has decreased from last year, falling from 401 to 348 this year.

Mr O'Dwyer said he expects the number of calls to reach "around 500 in total", which would bring this Halloween in line with Halloween 2024, when 494 fire calls were received.

Dublin Fire Brigade described 2024 as their busiest Halloween in a decade.

Both the fire brigade and An Garda Síochána reported no disturbance of serious concern despite the increased number of fire calls.

"It's been very busy in Dublin tonight, but so far we have no major incidents. Anti-social behaviour usually occurs after 10pm," said Mr O'Dwyer.

He said the high number of calls is due to a "perfect storm" of factors.

Mr O'Dwyer said all of its fire engines are out, with queued calls waiting.

"I'm looking into an empty yard," he said.

'There's still the bewitching hours to go'

The Chief Fire Officer said the high number of calls is due to the dry weather and Halloween falling on a Saturday night, adding: "There's still the bewitching hours to go."

He said so far tonight, Dublin Fire Brigade has responded mostly to bonfires and a couple of domestic fires.

The Chief Fire Officer said a bonfire set a nearby derelict house on fire in Mulhuddart.

Firefighters from Tara Street and North Strand fire stations also saved three dogs from a house fire earlier.

Mr O'Dywer said due to the dry weather illegal "fires will take hold better," and there will be more of them.

There are additional staff its East Regional Communication Centre to deal with an influx of calls tonight.

"We have a prioritisation system in place so that we can monitor these calls, classifying them by the danger involved to the public," he said.

Mr O'Dwyer said large bonfires near built-up areas, under overhead wires, or involving toxic fumes will be dealt with first.

"Unfortunately, there will be fires with an antisocial element involved, and we have to risk assess to see if it is safe for a crew to extinguish that," he said.

Mr O'Dwyer said they are relying heavily on An Garda Síochána and the Public Order Unit.

"That's how we will tackle tonight. And our biggest worry is just to make sure that all of our crews go home safe in the morning to their loved ones, that nobody gets injured," he said.

He said there are a lot more fireworks around "because they're easier to access now" through social media and online.

Mr O'Dwyer said they attended a significant incident this week involving fireworks "where somebody lost their hand".

"The problem is with these fireworks, they're completely unregulated. They're illegal for a reason. They are explosives. People forget that, and the unpredictability of them.

"The fuses go off before they're due to go off, so they go off immediately in somebody's hand, or the opposite: they don't go off at all, and they think it's a dud, and they approach it, and it goes off in their face," he said.

The Chief Fire Officer said people often light fireworks on the ground like rockets, expecting them to have a long fuse "but they go off straight away, or they go off in a totally different direction than they were expecting, hitting cars and going into houses and setting them on fire".

Mr O'Dwyer urged parents to try to get their children to go to organised events around the city.

He said: "They're fun organised events with lots of entertainment, and some with organised firework displays, licensed firework displays.

"Many with kind of funfair activities, food and entertainment. Much more fun than standing around a cold night, standing around a bonfire with toxic fumes coming off it."