A concerned Cork City fire fighter says he feels like he has no choice but to speak out about the current arrangements in place - since the closure of Ballincollig Fire Station.
Colin O'Brien is based at Anglesey Street Fire Station and says he is only speaking on behalf of himself and not a union or his colleagues.
Colin says he feels that the city fire service is spread too thinly since Ballincollig Fire Station was effectively closed - due to the lack of retained fire service personnel in the town.
Units from the city now cover the Ballincollig area, however Colin says it is leading to longer response times and a lack of resources.
Speaking to RedFM News, fire fighter Colin O'Brien outlines why he is concerned:
"We're covering an area that's five times larger than the original city boundary. And we now cover a population size that has doubled. And we're still catering for all of that with the same Fire Service numbers that we had since the 70s. Basically, our resources are just spread too thin. We don't want to see a situation where the public's life or safety is put at risk, and indeed, the firefighter safety is put at risk. We have safe systems of work and practices of work, that we're kind of stretching, to be honest with you, right now. We're, as I said, we're down in an appliance so we're effectively operating on 75% of our capacity, which is not safe, long term as a solution".
Cork City Council have previously advertised to fill the retained fire fighter positions in Ballincollig - and RedFM News has contacted the Council for an updated statement.
