By Diarmuid Sherry
The Chief Fire Officer at Westmeath Fire & Rescue has stated that unnecessary Automatic Fire Alarm calls was the biggest area needed to be concentrated on. Alan O’Neill said that unnecessary calls lead to fire brigade being mobilised “usually to be stood down at great cost and losses to the local authority”
Speaking at a council Strategic Planning Committee on Wednesday, 15 May, Mr O’Neill detailed statistics which showed that Westmeath Fire Service was called to 603 separate incidents in 2023.