Emergency services at Dublin Port Tunnel were called out yesterday morning when a tanker carrying aviation fuel was seen emerging from the tunnel's northern portal billowing smoke. The tanker caught fire minutes later at the side of the motorway. Tim O'Brien reports.
The incident happened as the chief fire officers' annual conference, taking place in Killiney, Co Dublin, was due to discuss fire safety issues in tunnels and high-rise buildings. Addressing the conference later, Vladimir Vlcek, chief fire officer, Ostrava, Czech Republic, said that in his country fuel tankers would not be allowed to travel unescorted in tunnels close to centres of population. But he said that the standard of fire safety at Dublin Port Tunnel was good and was above the European requirement, particularly in terms of the distances between escape routes, which were one every 250 metres as opposed to one every 500 metres.
However, North Dublin TD Finian McGrath said that the incident was "just short of a major catastrophe". He asked what would have happened if the tanker had caught fire a few minutes before exiting the tunnel.
The National Roads Authority (NRA) said that the tanker carrying aviation fuel entered the northbound tunnel shortly after 7am for the six-minute, 4.5km journey to Whitehall. A mobile safety patrolman outside the northern portal saw smoke billowing from beneath the driver's cab as the tanker emerged from the tunnel.
The tunnel's emergency fire service was called out and the driver of the tanker was approached and advised to stop. The tanker halted about 1km north of the tunnel exit. The fire officers took action and by 7.26am no further flame or smoke was visible.