Limerick City and County Council has announced that Abbeyfeale Fire Station will reopen on Monday (6 October).
The station was closed last Friday (26 September 2014) after a number of firefighters were unable to report to duty due to illness. As health and safety requirements dictate that a minimum complement must be present to maintain operations at a Fire Station, the local authority was forced to temporarily close the Station.
Michael Ryan, Chief Fire Officer confirmed this evening however, that retained firefighters from elsewhere throughout Limerick will operate on a shift basis at Abbeyfeale Fire Station next week allowing normal service to resume.
Mr. Ryan added: “Over the past week, all incidents normally responded to by the Abbeyfeale Fire Brigade have been dealt with by Brigades in Listowel, Newcastle West and Castleisland Fire Stations. The Fire Service would like to thank these Brigades for their assistance and indeed, the retained firefighters whose cooperation has allowed us to reopen Abbeyfeale Fire Station from this coming Monday morning.”
Josephine Cotter Coughlan, Director for Emergency Services said: “The decision to close the station was in accordance with health and safety requirements, but we were satisfied that sufficient and appropriate fire cover was provided by the three neighbouring stations in Listowel, Newcastle West and Castleisland during the closure period. Thankfully, there were no call-outs during this period. We would like to thank the public for their patience and understanding during the past week.”
Abbeyfeale is one of seven Fire Stations in Limerick. The six remaining stations are located in Newcastle West, Kilmallock, Rathkeale, Cappamore, Foynes and Limerick City (Mulgrave Street).
