Northern Ireland

Fire chief urges bonfire safety after increase in call-outs

Concerns have been raised about the proximity of a bonfire to a filling station in Carrickfergus
Concerns have been raised about the proximity of a bonfire to a filling station in Carrickfergus Concerns have been raised about the proximity of a bonfire to a filling station in Carrickfergus

CALL-OUTS by firefighters to bonfires rose by almost 40 per cent on Eleventh Night last year.

The Fire and Rescue Service said crews attended 33 bonfire-related incidents, as a senior commander appealed for people to put safety first.

Figures released yesterday also showed that the regional control centre last year dealt with 43 bonfire-related 999 calls - 12 more than in the previous year.

Alan Walmsley said since 2013, there had been a downward trend in the number of incidents, apart from last year.

"We are hoping this year to see a further reduction in the number of bonfire-related incidents we attend, but this can only be achieved if people think safety first at bonfires," he said.

"We will continue to work with local communities, community leaders, local councils and land-owners to put safety first at bonfires."

Mr Walmsley said bonfires should be kept at a "manageable size" and sited in a "clear, open space at a safe distance from buildings and overhead cables".

"A bonfire should be a minimum distance of five times its height from property," he said.

"It should not contain any potentially hazardous materials or tyres and never use flammable liquids such as petrol or paraffin as these can produce explosive vapours."

The warning comes after The Irish News revealed that a towering bonfire is being built across the road from a petrol station in Carrickfergus.

The Eleventh Night pyre is under construction on a grass verge at Prince Andrew Way, close to a filling station forecourt and retail units.

There have been increased concerns about bonfires being constructed near homes and businesses after several houses in west Belfast were gutted last year.

DUP councillor Billy Ashe had said he had not been made aware of any issues around the Carrickfergus bonfire, but Sinn Féin's Oliver McMullan described the siting of the pyre as "an act of madness".

Phil Monger of the Petrol Retailers Association last night said there should be discussions about "what control measures can be put in place" ahead of the lighting of the bonfire.

"Every petrol station under the law has to carry out risk assessments including the off-site risks there may be," he said.

"I would assume the site would have had a risk assessment carried out.

"What we would be advising in this sort of situation is that the site operator would discuss with the event organisers what controls measures can be put in place."