Laois firefighters have been called out to almost 240 emergencies from January to May this year.
The county’s busy fire and rescue service went to 238 emergencies since the start of the year up to May 19.
These incidents included 146 fires and 80 “special service” call-outs, from rescues to road accidents.
Fake calls
Twelve of these turned out to be bogus fake calls. The figures were stated in a management report from Laois County Council chief executive John Mulholland, which was given at the latest county council meeting.
Hoax calls are a serious issue for fire and rescue services. Not only are they a waste of resources, but while firefighters attend to these, there time could be taken from attending real emergencies.
Portlaoise is the busiest of the county’s eight fire stations by a long way, and was involved in 103 of the emergency call-outs. Next is Portarlington at 58, Stradbally at 42, Abbeyleix with 32, Mountmellick with 29, Mountrath at 21, Durrow with 18 and Rathdowney at 16.
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