Ballincollig Fire Station Campaign Group demonstrating in the town centre this afternoon

The newly formed Ballincollig Fire Station Campaign Group are demonstrating in the town centre this afternoon.

The group are calling for the City Council to fund a full time fire service based at Ballincollig Fire Station and say they were promised an improved fire service by the Council when the town was taken over as part of the boundary extension.

Firefighters at Anglesea Street are warning that the current arrangements for emergency cover for the area are not working and say several incidents that happened within the space of an hour on Monday evening show how stretched their resources are.

Speaking to RedFM News, local resident Siobhan Rogers says crews shouldn’t be under pressure for resources when they get multiple emergency calls:

“The City Crew were probably in a logistical nightmare trying to deal with that. And I think it’s a disgrace in this time and age when they’re not funded firstly, when we everybody in Cork is behind them. This is a health and safety issue. We don’t want to see someone hurt. God forbid we don’t see anybody dying.”