NAAS, 2 July 2001: by Bill Trapman. Almost 100 road traffic accidents and vehicle fires were among the 354 emergency calls attended by Naas Fire Brigade last year, while 19 house fires and 31 fires in 'other premises' were dealt with. The service's new fire station was officially opened on Saturday last by the minister for finance, Charlie McCreevy TD.
The new station was built at a cost of £664,000 and is one of six serving the county. The Naas facility's service area is approximately 30 square miles from the wicklow border to Prosperous, Allenwood, Borehard and Silliott townlands. The building includes two vehicle bays, a drill yard, drill tower, lecture room, workshop, muster bay and drying facilities.
The appliances at the station include a Volvo multi-purpose unit specially adapted to deal with road traffic accidents, as well as a Mercedes all-terrain vehicle. A new 2,000-gallon water tanker is being built to augment the service's rapid response capability.
Kildare County Council chairman Rainsford Hendy (left) paid tribute to the work of the fire brigade members during the official opening, saying their work was 'difficult and challenging'. "It is right that one of the earliest actions of the council in the 21st century should be to provide new and modern fire-fighting facilities to help them in their task, and to protect lives and property."
Meanwhile, Kildare County Council is to undertake a recruiting drive to bring the service county-wide up to full strength. It is currently short 29 firefighters, and there are difficulties in getting sufficient 'retained' members because so many people now work at considerable distances from their homes ... a firefighter must live and work within five minutes response time from his station.
©2001knn