Tipperary fire chief to contribute to national review of Slievenamon fire
Chief Fire Officer John Shinners is part of a national group that reviews severe weather events
Tipperary Fire & Rescue Service’s Chief Fire Officer will contribute to a review of the Slievenamon wildfire that is to be carried out at national level.
John Shinners told Tipperary County Council's September meeting he was part of a national group that reviews severe weather events in the country and will be contributing his voice to its review of the Slievenamon wildfire.
He said the wildfire was a severe weather event that happened during the warmest year in 127 years since records began to be collected in Ireland and during a 66-day period of no rainfall.
In his report to the Council on the emergency services' response to the wildfire, Mr Shinners outlined lessons Tipperary Fire Service learned from the crisis and proposed measures to prepare for any similar future fire.
The first was the importance of early detection and how it can aid rapid mobilisation of emergency services. He said satellite images first picked up the wildfire at 7.30am on July 20. He paid tribute to “clued in” local residents for taking action to contact the fire service early that morning, and the Fire Service mobilised very quickly.
The wildfire highlighted the value of aerial and wildland firefighting equipment.
He said it was the first time they used aerial support on a large scale as the fire was located in such an inaccessible area. That experience will enable the fire service to streamline how it's used in future fires.
A review of firefighting equipment and PPE will also be carried out in line with national guidance. They were looking nationally and locally at what additional firefighting equipment is needed that fire services can access. The setting up of a national database of specialist resources for tackling wildfires is proposed.
Another lesson was the need for public cooperation, especially regarding restrictions on the use of drones. He recalled the problem aerial firefighting crews had with drones but thankfully when the message got out they were impeding the emergency services, it was listened to and people respected the appeal.
Mr Shinners said a big focus will be put on educating the public about wildfires and how to reduce them. A message he wants to get out is there hadn’t been a danger of the Slievenamon fire spreading to settlements as the base of the mountain and surrounding countryside was green fields, which would cause the blaze to peter out once it reached them.