Council urged to carry out audit of fire hydrants across Limerick

SINN Féin councillor Sharon Benson has called for an inspection to be carried out across the city and county to ensure that fire hydrants are in place and in working in all housing estates. 

Proposing the motion at a full meeting of Limerick City and County Council, she cited a recent case where the fire brigade went to an estate in Abbeyfeale to discover there was no fire hydrant.

That particular incident did not involve a fire but the residents were nervous and needed a response. She was asking that an audit be carried out across Limerick as it could potentially lead to serious consequences.

”Where they are missing, is that a planning issue?”, she asked. “Who is responsible for checking fire hydrants are where they should be?” 

If the job of ensuring a fire hydrant in every estate lay with the council, Cllr John Sheahan said, they would need to get funding to do so. But he wanted to hear from the Chief Fire Officer as to whether or not he was happy with the level of fire hydrants. 

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“I am not aware there is an issue generally in relation to fire hydrants,” director of services Kieran Lehane said. 

He had discussed the matter with the Chief Fire Officer who was satisfied with the situation, he said, and he pointed out that when the council takes an estate in charge, all infrastructure is checked, including water services. 

But Cllr Stephen Keary said he was disappointed with the level of oversight by the council, and had instances of where snag lists were drawn up for estates but the the work wasn’t done. 

Mr Lehane  asked councillors to bring any issues they were aware of to his attention. 

Cllr Liam Galvin said the motion should be forwarded to Irish Water.