Firefighters want water restrictions lifted for Hallowe'en
Firefighters are urging Dublin City Council to lift water restrictions tonight - as Hallowe'en is their busiest night of the year.
The Irish Fire and Emergency Services Association says they may not be able to put out major blazes this evening because of the water shortages.
More than a million people are affected by the restrictions in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow, which arose following a production problem at the Ballymore Eustace treatment plant.
"We've 23 … fire engines on duty tomorrow night, so we will be stretched," said chairman of the Irish Fire and Emergency Services Association, John Kidd, last night.
"And if we have to split them or send them out … to back each other up for water supply, it's even going to be worse.
"So we have concerns, yes.
"And we just think it's probably the worst night of the year for us to have water restrictions - our busiest night of the year."
Dublin City Council later said that the fire service not only has adequate resources to deal with blazes this tonight - but they are now in a better position because of the water restrictions.
Council engineer Michael Phillips said that any concerns about the fire service are unfounded.
“The fire people and the fire brigade are full confident that they have adequate resources,” he said.
“But in addition to that, we have people on standby – and in actual fact they’re in a better situation because of the restrictions because using both the people on the road and in our computers, we can divert water that we do have into the area [of] the fire.”
