Derry’s fire chief has warned that issues surrounding bonfires at both the Fountain Estate and Bogside must be resolved ahead of the summer months.
Mark Deeney, Western District Commander with the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS), made the comments at a meeting of Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Health and Community Committee.
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He was part of a deputation which aimed at outlining the impact of bonfires on the emergency services, and the knock-on effect that had for the wider community.
Speaking at the meeting, Mr Deeney said the bonfire at Meenan Square had grown to such a size over the past years that it could easily spread to flats at Durrow Park and an electrical sub-station nearby, which, if set alight, could result in an explosion which would leave hundreds of home without power.
He told the meeting if such a situation occurred, even firefighters would be removed from the area due to the level of risk, given that they couldn’t put water on a live electricity station.
“In 2014 we had to deploy resources to protect infrastructure in the area, and in 2015 it was bigger again,” he said.
“And here we are in 2016, and it’s still unresolved.”
He continued the fire posed a risk to spectators, given that a ‘couple of thousand people’ had attended the event, and also to those involved in the construction of the bonfire, adding that a young boy involved in the lighting of the bonfire had been hospitalised due to burns in 2013.
He told the meeting while the bonfire in the Fountain estate was ‘not as bad’, it was ‘important to highlight its escalation’, given that hundreds of tyres had been used in the bonfire last year.
“The fire burns for much longer and it’s much harder to extinguish,” he added.
He continued that it also poised a ‘major fire hazard’ to a nearby primary school and flats, while the Old Fire Station building which lay across from the bonfire site could also be damaged.
He said both bonfires had a ‘considerable’ impact on their resources, and revealed that in 2014, fire crews were busy dealing with the bonfire in Meenan Square when a fire broke out at a house in Lettershandoney, where people were trapped in a house.
“We had the foresight to bring in outside cover,” he said.
He said that a bonfire also resulted in Derry having no fire cover when crews were called to a fatal road traffic accident in Burnfoot in Inishowen.
Mr Deeney said the NIFRS had experienced difficulties during the re-location of the Meenan Square bonfire in ‘identifying’ who to engage with, adding that with the Fountain bonfire, ‘people were willing to come to the fore and take responsibility’.
He told the meeting they had engaged with young people who would be in attendance at bonfires in the Bogside, through presentations held in both Pilot’s Row and Youth First.
He added: “The danger is that if we don’t address this, it may go back into Meenan Square and we can’t get in to protect site and move the bonfire.”
He concluded: “If that happens, everything that I talked about will come true, make no mistake.”
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