More than 230 calls to Dublin Fire Brigade over Halloween weekend as bonfire stockpiles targeted

Dublin Fire Brigade received more than 230 calls over Halloween weekend, more than half of which were in response to bonfires or other Halloween related issues.

The fire brigade said heavy rainfall over the weekend and Monday contributed to a lower level of calls than usual.

Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) said an “intensive” campaign to target stockpiles of bonfire materials across the four local authorities in Dublin also contributed to a lower number of calls over the weekend.

Between midnight on October 31st and midnight on November 1st, DFB received 234 calls, of which 169 related to bonfires or Halloween callouts.

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This compared to 186 calls the same weekend last year, 133 of which related to Halloween. In 2020, DFB received 415 calls, more than 300 of which were related to Halloween.

In a statement, DFB said there was “limited anti-social behaviour” towards fire fighters or paramedics on Monday night, with no injuries reported.

An Garda Síochána said they “experienced a busy but quieter Halloween evening than other years”.

There were no significant incidents overnight, a Garda spokesman said.

The Garda received more than 2,000 calls between 6pm on October 31st and 6am on Monday. The spokesman said around 700 of these related to public order incidents or reports.

In Dublin, a man in his 50s was taken to the Mater hospital following a house fire in Ballymun on Monday night. It was one of three house fires dealt with by Dublin Fire Brigade on a busy Halloween night. A woman suffered from smoke inhalation at a house fire in Cabra, while they also dealt with a house fire at Clondalkin.

Earlier on Monday, gardaí from Ronanstown in Dublin, as part of Operation Tombola, confiscated a large quantity of fireworks following a search of a residence in Dublin 12 and seized “in excess of €8,000”. Gardaí in Ballymun seized a large amount of fireworks at a house and a man in his 20s was arrested.

Gardaí at Fitzgibbon St confiscated a large amount of pallets on Monday as well as a quantity of fireworks, while, along with Dublin City Council staff, they removed “350 tyres and 300 pallets” in the Dublin 12 area on Monday morning.