Increase in Halloween call-outs for fire service

This Halloween was one of the busiest for Athlone Fire Service, but there were no incidents of concern.

That’s according to Senior Assistant Chief Fire Officer Pat Hunt, who said there were call-outs to seven bonfires over the bank holiday weekend.

Fortunately no-one was injured and the fire service had sufficient resources to deal with all the call-outs.

“It was one of the busiest periods we had in the past five years,” said Mr Hunt. “All were standard bonfires.”

As the weather gets colder, he is advising homeowners to take care when lighting home fires and turning on boilers for the first time this winter.

“Make sure the chimneys are cleaned a minimum of once a year. The boilers should be inspected a minimum of once a year,” he said.

He is also advising people to ensure their smoke alarms are in working order.