2018 has been an exceptionally busy year for Carlow’s Fire Service.
In a report for Carlow County Council they say there’s been an increase of more than 40% in the number of call outs from January to November this year compared to last.
522 is the number of call-outs the fire service in Carlow has had so far this year – up 44% on 2017.
They say they think this is primarily due to the extended period of dry weather during the summer.
During that time they had to assist in replenishing water supplies to reservoirs around the county which had become depleted because of the drought.
However, they say they were helped in this task by the fact they got a new 9,000 litre water tanker delivered in May.
321 of their call-outs have been for fires, and 57 have been for car crashes.
The fire service have also been called to rescue people from the water 11 times – up from five last year.
They’ve had just two malicious false alarms this year, compared to four last year.
January of this year also saw the first Firefighting courses being held at the upgraded training centre in Hacketstown.
The facility is completely booked up for the remainder of this year.
