Significant rise in Kerry fire service’s call-outs to road accidents

By Alastair Tibbs, The Kerryman

Data reveals Kerry’s fire service has been called out to a significantly higher number of road collisions this year, with one local councillor calling the figures “shocking”.

A report by Kerry County Council revealed the county’s fire brigade had attended 32 per cent more road accident scenes between January and October this year in comparison to the same period in 2024.

Councillor Fionan Fitzgerald said it was a “significant increase” and that the figures needed to be highlighted.

“It’s a shocking figure for the county,” he said, “that’s a lot of trouble and a lot of people”.

“Its speed, its volume…we need to look at our driver safety on the roads this winter.”

The data showed total mobilisations in the same period were up 18 per cent year-on-year, with the number of gorse fires up 225 per cent, from 44 incidents to 143.

Chimney fires were down from 50 to 38, representing a 24 per cent decrease, while false alarm figures also saw a deflation from 228 to 199.

Last month Kerry fire service ran several fire awareness campaigns.