Local Fine Gael senator Fidelma Healy Eames has questioned why the Galway Fire Service, the only local emergency organisation “equipped to suck up and remove water”, was not fully engaged to deal with the recent flooding in east and south Galway.
“The fire service is the only local emergency service adequately equipped to deal with disasters such as flooding as it has the ability to hoover up flood water at a rate of 1,000 gallons a minute.
“However, in this instance it was not employed to deal with the situation on the ground and in the past six days reports are that the Athenry Fire Service had only three call outs whereas Ennis Fire Service reported in excess of 130. Similarly, fire services in Ballinasloe, Gort and Portumna - some of the worst affected areas - were not engaged in emergency relief effort.”
Serious questions must be answered by the Galway County Council as well as by local fire chiefs as to why these vital services were not used, she says.
“So far the reason being given to firefighters, who reportedly were more than happy to activate their services, is that they are exclusively a ‘life and death emergency crew’. It is thought the reason for the decision was motivated by an attempt to save money as each of these services has two fire engines which would allow any major emergency to be dealt with in the event of the other being used for flood relief.
“In what appears to be a penny wise-pound foolish decision that could have alleviated much hardship for homeowners and motorists, questions need to be answered by as to why local fire services were not used to ease the situation locally.
“In the three incidents where the Athenry Fire Service were used a woman who was under three foot of water was moved, a flood near the agricultural college in Athenry was removed to allow motorists through and a man stuck in his car in a flood was rescued. These were all very common emergencies in the course of the weekend flood disaster.”
She says she is “flabbergasted” that every possible emergency relief organisation was not involved.
“There is a need for a full and frank explanation as to why fire services, which are fully equipped and best able to deal with flood occurrences, were not engaged to do so in Galway over the past week.”
Meanwhile Labour party spokesperson on local government, Deputy Ciaran Lynch said tens of thousands of people have been hugely affected by this flooding.
“On the one hand we have the worst single flooding event in living memory and on the other we have a standing army of emergency workers that have effectively been stood down! Countless homes being destroyed, many elderly people stranded, numerous businesses facing closure, farms lying under millions of gallons of water, and jobs at serious risk.”
He claimed that city and county managers decided that emergency workers would not be involved in the rescue effort.
“In the light of the massive and perhaps unforeseen impact that this week’s floods are having, it is time to reverse that daft decision.
“Environment Minister John Gormley must act on this as a matter of urgency. He must engage with the relevant county managers and impress upon them the need to use all the resources they have at their disposal to tackle the awful consequences of the flooding. I have already raised this in the Dail today and will continue to do so until the matter is resolved.”
Local Labour party councillor Colm Keaveney said retained firefighters form the backbone of the emergency services around the country, particularly in small towns and villages.
“Now it is clear that crews in the western region, including in Galway, have been told that they are not to respond to calls from members of their communities who are in danger or in distress as a result of the catastrophic flooding. It is beyond belief!”
