Limerick County Fire & Rescue Service is reminding members of the public about the importance of including provision for fire brigade charges in their insurance policies.
The local authority says it issues approximately 800 fire service invoices per annum for attendance of the fire brigade at incidents such as road traffic accidents, house fires, hay barn fires, commercial fires.
“In many cases people are unaware that the fire brigade charges may be covered on their insurance policies including motor, home and farm policies”, explained Gerry Behan, Director of Services, Limerick County Council.
He continued: “We would recommend that the public amend their policies to include for this eventuality if it is not already in place. When an incident occurs near a county boundary you may have fire brigades from a neighbouring county present at the scene. Accordingly the billing process can take some time. You should check with your insurance company if the charges can be covered if the invoice arrives after the insurance case is closed.”
“It is regrettable we have to charge for these incidents but we would not be able to fund this or many other desirable services properly without these charges. Fire charges do not in any way cover the cost of running the fire service. In County Limerick, fire charges annually amount to €350,000 and this represents approximately 5% of the cost of running the fire service which is in excess of €7 million. The charges of Limerick County Council are comparable with other counties”, Mr. Behan added.
Mr. Behan said some confusion exists among members of the public in relation to the procedures involved with fire service call-outs.
Carmel Kirby, Chief Fire Officer explained: “In the context of the number of appliances mobilised to incidents this is determined by the number of personnel, equipment and personnel required at incidents both to deal with the incident and to ensure fire fighter safety and to comply with our health and safety obligations. For example, the fire service must provide a minimum of two fire appliances when working on or near an active roadway to provide a safe working area to protect the people from passing vehicles. Two fire appliances are also required for all structural fires. Depending on the situation it may also be necessary to provide more fire appliances than this to protect fire crews at incidents. The fire service is also often requested by the Garda Síochána and the HSE to remain at road traffic accidents to help them maintain a safe place of work.”
“An invoice is issued to the person who has received the benefit of the service, and liability for the charge is not dependant on whether the person called the fire service. If there are cases of genuine hardship and inability to pay the fire charges each case is looked at and a partial waiver or easy payment options may be provided. Limerick County Council never charges for their service in the case of a fatality”, she added.
Burning of Waste, Gorse
The Fire Service has recently introduced a new charge for attendance at an incident involving the burning of waste and where written permission has not been obtained from the Environment Section. The new charge follows from the introduction of the Waste Management (Prohibition of Waste Disposal by Burning) Regulations in 2009.
Under these regulations;
1. It is illegal to burn any household or commercial wastes i.e. backyard burning which includes home incinerators and barrels.
2. It is illegal to burn garden or park wastes. These should be either home composted, put into the brown organic bin or brought to a civic amenity site (www.limerickrecyclingcentres.ie).
3. Uncontaminated Agricultural Wastes (cut foliage, gorse, hedgerows, tree trimmings, branches, etc from agricultural practices) may be burned provided that an application for written permission to Environment Section for the Burning of Agricultural Wastes has been made and conditions complied with. (contact tel. no. 061-496264).
According to Ms. Kirby: “Where a written application has not been made and the fire service attends at a gorse fire for example, then a payment must be made for the turning out of the fire service”.
“Limerick County Council’s fire charges may be viewed on the Council website www.lcc.ie. The most recent customer survey has shown that 78% of customers were satisfied that the fire service was ‘value for money’”, she stated.
Pre-Christmas Fire Safety Message
Meanwhile, with just 6 weeks to go until Christmas, the Fire Service is reminding householders of the basics of fire safety in the home.
Carmel Kirby, Chief Fire Officer commented: “The main causes of fire during the festive season are candles left unprotected, fairy lights left on all night or improperly wired, Christmas trees falling over, open fires without fireguards and decorations catching fire.”
“To reduce the risk of fire each home should have a fully operational smoke alarm which should be checked regularly. Limerick County Council operates a Community Smoke Alarm initiative for the elderly where alarms are provided free of charge to people”, she concluded.
