Concern over fire near explosives factory in Kildare

A concern has been raised over a fire which occurred near an explosives manufacturing operation near Enfield.

A Kildare County Council meeting was told that a fire, caused by the heatwave event, took place on land between Derryvarogue and Hortland in the Donadea area, near the explosives manufacturing facility.

This was the claim made at a KCC meeting by west Kildare councillor Brendan Wyse, who also said that a fire around the same time in the Timahoe area occurred close to the landfill facility there.

He claimed that trying to get information from authorities about the impacts of events like the hot spell “is not always easy.”

He was one of four councillors who asked whether Kildare is prepared for a heatwave this summer.

They called for an assessment of just how ready the county is to respond to an adverse hot weather event.

This, they said, should include the availability and accessibility of cooling centres or climate shelters, such as community centres, libraries, public buildings and “other sustainably air-conditioned facilities.”

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They asked for a report covering the adequacy of emergency planning, risk assessment and “use of forecast thresholds or triggers for prolonged high-temperature events”.

They are also seeking to know how “heatwave scenarios” are integrated into training, exercise and into “inter-agency coordination.”

They say there is a need to clarify roles and responsibilities and whether heatwaves should be included in the Major Emergency Plan (the coordinated response for dealing with severe incidents that regular emergencies can’t cope with).

The councillors are concerned about the impact a heat event would have on public health, water services and vulnerable people.

Cllr Pádraig McEvoy said more needs to be done than recognising the risks.

“We have never declared an emergency around heat, but we’re getting close to it.” he said, at a KCC meeting, adding “we need to know what we have to do to be ready.”

Cllr Chris Pender said many rough sleepers are affected by adverse weather events.

He said some had to go to hospital as a result of the heatwave because of heatstroke or dehydration.

However there was a discordant note when independent councillor Tom McDonnell said he did not agree with the motion saying that Ireland had 56 days of rainfall after Christmas and his view was described as “ridiculous” by Cllr Peggy O’Dwyer, who said the heatwave had claimed thousands of lives.

KCC said it will respond to “periods of extremely high temperatures in accordance” with emergency management guidelines and with reference to Met Éireann’s Warning System.

It said extreme heat events may occur over prolonged periods and can have cumulative impacts on health, infrastructure, the environment and service delivery.

It also said the issue has been identified in the council’s recent climate action plans “as a significant risk.”

It also pointed out that response agencies do not always have sufficient resources to mitigate all impacts and “working in high temperature conditions presents hazards and staff should operate in accordance with risk assessments and control measures.”