Bray fire service is under-strength

The fire service in Bray, Co Wicklow, has not been able to return to full capacity owing to the deaths of two firefighters in the town last month and illness among crew members, it has emerged.

Since the loss of firemen Brian Murray (46) and Mark O'Shaughnessy (25) in a fire at a disused factory in the town on September 26th, cover for the Bray and rural north Wicklow area has been provided by the retained Greystones fire service, which also remains on call for Greystones.

News of the personnel shortages was revealed by Wicklow County Council director of services Bryan Doyle yesterday as the council debated calls for a full-time fire service for Bray.

Fine Gael councillor John Ryan told the council that northern parts of Bray were served by a full-time fire service because they were actually in Co Dublin and were served by the full-time Dún Laoghaire Rathdown service.

But he said the level of service should not depend on which part of the town a person lived in. A full-time fire service should be provided, he said.

However, John Byrne, a council member who is also a Bray fire officer, asked the council to hold back on calling for a full-time fire service until the reports of investigations into the Bray tragedy by the council, the Health and Safety Executive and gardaí were available.

Mr Byrne said since the fire "everybody has become an expert on the fire service" and there had been speculation which "was not quiet accurate and not quite true". He paid tribute to his colleagues who had lost their lives and offered his sympathies to the families of the dead men.