Carlow’s fire service has officially become the greenest in the country after being the first in Ireland to receive a top international environmental award.
The service was praised for its move toward electric vehicles and its “ECO Class” fire engines, which run on treated vegetable oil instead of traditional fuel.
Firefighters have even created new biodiversity gardens at local stations, using upcycled old equipment to create quiet spaces for crews to decompress after tough calls.
Acting Chief Fire Officer Ben Woodhouse says the move isn’t about chasing trophies, but about modernising the fleet to provide a safer, higher-quality service for the public.
“In 2024, we launched the world’s first ECO Class fire appliance combining state-of-the-art software with hydrotreated vegetable oil and since then, we have redoubled our efforts to become Ireland’s greenest fire and rescue service,” said Ben Woodhouse, Acting Chief Fire Officer.
“The assessment identified our strong commitment to fleet electrification, demonstrating proactive action toward reducing emissions and modernising operations.
“We have made significant upgrades to station facilities, enhancing safety, efficiency, as well as environmental performance.
“We have also launched our new biodiversity gardens across our fire stations, which offer a tranquil place where firefighters can decompress after responding to traumatic incidents, while improving local biodiversity, sustainability and the circular economy by upcycling end of life fire service equipment, destined for landfill, into the gardens.”
Firefighters from Bagenalstown Fire Station have recently battled wildfires on Mount Leinster during a nationwide status orange forest fire warning.
“Events such as this remind us why these accreditations are of vital importance in our industry,” said Mr Woodhouse.
“This is not a matter of chasing accolades but to ensure we deliver the highest level quality of service to the public, in line with international standards of excellence.
“Furthermore, it underscores our efforts to protect our workers and continue to improve employee safety conditions through technology investment, comprehensive staff training programmes and the cultivation of a positive work environment.”
The Emergency Services and Building Control section of Carlow County Council is now in possession of ISO 14001:2015 for Environmental Waste Management Systems, ISO 45001:2018 for Occupational Health and Safety Management and ISO 9001:2015 for Quality Management.
“This is a huge achievement contributed to by all roles within the Council’s emergency services section, which also forms part of our strategic section goals,” said Carlow County Council Cathaoirleach, councillor Ken Murnane.
“It is acknowledgement of the hard work being undertaken to meet Carlow County Council’s Climate Action Plan, which aims to reduce county emissions by 51 per cent and increase energy efficiency in the public sector to 50 per cent by 2030.
“We are proud that our county fire service has now become the very first fire authority in Ireland to achieve all three of these milestones and will continue to strive for success and innovation.”
