Fears for small Galway fire stations under review of service

The most fundamental review undertaken of fire services in County Galway for eighty years has led to speculation that some areas will lose their station or have the level of service downgraded.

New Government policy will result in significant changes in fire safety for all local authorities, but particularly Galway County Council which has managed the service in both city and county since the mid 1980s, the Director of Services for Corporate, Housing and Emergency Services Eugene Cummins stated at this week’s county council meeting.

The framework, called Keeping Communities Safe, would involve an examination of the fire risk of all areas and a review of each fire station, he said.

“We may see some stations might be in the wrong place. Some might be too big, some night not be big enough. We have to look at staff, we may have too many people or we may have enough, it all has to be looked at going forward,” Mr Cummins told the chamber.

A cursory analysis of Galway City has found that it will move to a higher risk classification of A2 or B1 at some time in the future, which is between a high and very high risk area. This would mean the city would require two full-time pumps which would have major staffing and financial implications.

The service would no longer be able to operate from Fr Griffin Road as this station was not big enough. Galway County Council was already examining different sites were a bigger station could be located.  

Most of the Connemara area councillors complained about the lack of a station in South Connemara, with just one in Clifden. Cllr Seosamh O Cuaig (Ind) said the area had a bigger population than Leitrim and Longford, yet both these counties had five stations each. The distance between stations in Drumshanbo and Carrick-on-Shannon was eight miles. The distance between Galway City and Clifden was 48 miles.

For more on this story, see today’s Connacht Tribune