Surge in bonfire incidents reported ahead of Halloween

Dublin Fire Brigade is reporting a surge in Halloween-related calls in the run-up to the holiday.

The emergency service received 155 Halloween-related calls in just eight hours on Saturday night as rival areas set each other's bonfire stockpiles ablaze.

This comes as children’s emergency doctors and gardaí are warning parents bonfires and fireworks can leave children with life-changing injuries.

Chief Fire Officer Greg O’Dwyer said crews were called to bonfires and rubbish fires across Dublin city and county between 6pm and 2am on Saturday, with some apparently sparked by rival areas burning each other’s bonfire stockpiles.

"Already we have seen an escalation in calls, Halloween related," he said.

Speaking to RTE's Morning Ireland, Mr O'Dwyer said: "We are talking about bonfires - small bonfires and rubbish fires… it would appear it’s probably one area setting fire to another areas stash of bonfire material."

He urged the public to report stockpiles of bonfire material to their local authority so they can be removed.

Mr O'Dwyer said additional staff will be brought into the emergency call centre for Halloween night as the number of calls will go up exponentially. Specific arrangements need to be put in place to handle additional Halloween calls, he added.

He said councils can be contacted if people want to report stockpiles or stashes of bonfire material.

Councils, he said, have cleared several hundred tonnes over recent years, helping reduce the number and size of fires.

Rival groups burning bonfires

Sergeant John Fitzpatrick, Crime Prevention Officer for Co Wicklow, said gardaí see the same behaviour between rival bonfire groups across the country.

"Rival groups either try to steal each other's stockpiles or if failing that, try to burn it," he said.

He said the danger with that is that the stashed stockpiled bonfire materials are often hidden in wooded or overgrown areas within housing estates, close to homes and other buildings.

He said he had witnessed close calls involving stockpiles being set alight in build-up areas.

Mr Fitzpatrick urged parents to know where their children are and to explain the dangers of collecting bonfire material.

He added that even small sparks could cause serious damage, particularly where stockpiles were close to residential properties.

"I've worked plenty of Halloweens and I have seen bonfires get out of control. Unfortunately, I've seen people get injured. I've seen pets and animals injured as well quite badly," he said.

He encouraged families to attend organised Halloween events where possible and keep children safely back from fires.

Meanwhile, Mr O’Dwyer also warned about the dangers that fireworks and bonfires pose to children and others.

Fireworks, he said, can destroy entire hands, leaving victims with devastating injuries surgeons cannot repair.

"Personally, I've seen lots of injuries where people have lost not only fingers, but their whole hand," said the fire officer.

"These are life altering injuries," he added.

"With these types of injuries your hand disintegrates, it’s gone. Fireworks are explosives. They go off in people's hands and they destroy them."

He also warned children standing too close to bonfires is another risk because costumes catch fire or melt onto skin.

Mr O’Dwyer also warned that gas cylinders and fireworks thrown onto bonfires can send projectiles flying, causing serious eye injuries.

He urged parents to take children to organised Halloween events, with entertainment and, in some cases, licensed fireworks displays. Details are available at local authority websites.

"There are multiple events on right across the city and county," he said. "Where people can have a lot more fund than standing around a bonfire".

Doctors warn of life-altering injuries

A leading children’s doctor is also warning parents their children could lose fingers and suffer life-changing injuries from fireworks this Halloween.

CHI Crumlin has already treated four children for fireworks injuries in the past fortnight and is braced for more cases over the midterm break and the coming weekend.

Dr Laura Melody, a consultant in paediatric emergency medicine at the hospital, and paediatric care representative for the Irish Association of Emergency Medicine, said teenage boys are the cohort of children most commonly injured when fireworks explode in their hands.

"I've seen some teenagers with very devastating hand injuries," she said.

For a teenager holding a firework in their dominant hand, she said, the damage can be life-changing.

Dr Melody warned of "loss of fingers and significant loss of function of that hand going forward".

The paediatric consultant also warned about bonfires during Halloween, which she said have also left children with devastating injuries.

She said doctors have treated "children who have lost vision from standing near bonfires where projectiles have gone off from them".

Children watching fireworks can also be struck by flying debris, while sparklers can cause burns to hands.

"So again, our message will be not to give them to young children," she said.

Despite annual warnings, she said teenagers "sometimes don't realise the long-term consequences of what they might be partaking in".

Her advice to parents is to keep younger children away from bonfires and fireworks and tell older children to stand well clear.