Charged 350 euro for Fire Brigade to show up and leave.

puzzle factory

I got a bill for 1800eu after a car accident,no way could i afford it,went in to the fire station in tralee and explained i couldnt afford it,that was 2004,never heard from them again.

angelfire9

Ironically my hubby was in an RTA last year (other driver admitted liability)
Both drivers got bills from the Fire service for attending the scene (only one fire engine attended)
Both bills were for circa €1200
Neither driver had to be cut out of their respective vehicles
There was no glass or oil on the road for them to clean up
They basically turned up had a look and drove back to the station
Hubby was gone in the ambulance before they got there but my brother in law (who lives down the road from the scene) had arrived & was there cleaning out the valuables from hubby's car before it got towed to the garda station

Now, granted the insurance company of the driver at fault will be settling both bills (i would imagine) but I thought it was kinda looney that they were charging almost €2500 for turning up at a scene


Maybe its just Clare County Council who like sending out these kind of bills?

Leo Demidov

Wrong!

Best money you will ever spend.

Keywords: Serious, housefire, fire, billowing, doorsframes, windows, timberframe?

TylerIE

angelfire9 wrote: »

Ironically my hubby was in an RTA last year (other driver admitted liability)
Both drivers got bills from the Fire service for attending the scene (only one fire engine attended)
Both bills were for circa €1200
Neither driver had to be cut out of their respective vehicles
There was no glass or oil on the road for them to clean up
They basically turned up had a look and drove back to the station
Hubby was gone in the ambulance before they got there but my brother in law (who lives down the road from the scene) had arrived & was there cleaning out the valuables from hubby's car before it got towed to the garda station

Now, granted the insurance company of the driver at fault will be settling both bills (i would imagine) but I thought it was kinda looney that they were charging almost €2500 for turning up at a scene


Maybe its just Clare County Council who like sending out these kind of bills?

You can expect similar bills from fire services in the North East and Midlands IIRC.

Fire Services charge full whack for RTCs as its the insurance company who will pay. Most collisions arent accidents so somebody's at fault, its felt that the insurance is there to pay the cost of their actions. Iv often heard of bills circa e1800 for Road Traffic Incidents. For your husbands collision its safe to assume that there were two appliances initially dispatched, plus scene safety vehicles, so probably 10 firefighters (Retained). There was probably an initial hour rate of €40 each, more at nights and weekends, so thats €800 of your bill straight away. The balance may be an apportionment of yearly overheads plus diesel, etc...

Im sure you would agree that while a housefire may deserve compassion regarding fees, a road collision with someone at fault does not.

Leo Demidov

Granted, the fees might seem excessive, but it does appear that no county or city fire service makes a profit, maybe they are trying to recoup genuine expense. Value for money, you will not get. The "system" eats money. Imagine what one would have to pay for any of the other emergency services (which are covered solely by direct taxation).

angelfire9

wexfjord wrote: »

Wrong!

Best money you will ever spend.

Keywords: Serious, housefire, fire, billowing, doorsframes, windows, timberframe?

My entire estate is timber framed, the lads in ennis know this... didn't make a difference to my 30 minute waiting time though.... but that's another issue...

Leo Demidov

lst wrote: »

There was probably an initial hour rate of €40 each, more at nights and weekends, so thats €800 of your bill straight away. The balance may be an apportionment of yearly overheads plus diesel, etc.

They are worth twice that before anyone interjects.

Leo Demidov

angelfire9 wrote: »

My entire estate is timber framed, the lads in ennis know this... didn't make a difference to my 30 minute waiting time though.... but that's another issue...

Why mention it then?

angelfire9

lst wrote: »

You can expect similar bills from fire services in the North East and Midlands IIRC.

Fire Services charge full whack for RTCs as its the insurance company who will pay. Most collisions arent accidents so somebody's at fault, its felt that the insurance is there to pay the cost of their actions. Iv often heard of bills circa e1800 for Road Traffic Incidents. For your husbands collision its safe to assume that there were two appliances initially dispatched, plus scene safety vehicles, so probably 10 firefighters (Retained). There was probably an initial hour rate of €40 each, more at nights and weekends, so thats €800 of your bill straight away. The balance may be an apportionment of yearly overheads plus diesel, etc...

Im sure you would agree that while a housefire may deserve compassion regarding fees, a road collision with someone at fault does not.

Nope.... 1 appliance as that was all that was available
Scene safety vehicles... in the back ass of nowhere I think not :rolleyes:
3 fire fighters (retained)
midweek 8pm so night time charge applies

€2500... = Clare County council acting the maggot

TylerIE

angelfire9 wrote: »

My entire estate is timber framed, the lads in ennis know this... didn't make a difference to my 30 minute waiting time though.... but that's another issue...

Seemingly we are over-populated with fire services.

Im not on a high horse, Iv waited 35 minutes at fatal incidents (note plural) 100m from my house for the fire service, but I understand that like any emergency service they cant be everywhere all the time.

Most retained services are given 5-10 minutes to get to station, so if your 15/20km from the station on rural roads that easily makes the 30 minute response time.

If they know life or limb is threatened, like all ES personnell, they will do their best to get there as quick as possible while still aiming to arrive alive.

A fire appliance costs 250k plus, we cant have them in every town and village if we want the state to fund the service.

Leo Demidov

to be honest, if I were you, I would try and defray any expense relating to a fire in my home and my my deepest sympathies do genuinely go out to you. my sole point is that if we are to pay for any service, my priority would be the fire service, no money can compensate for the sh1te they see in our name.

In any event, we pay for every service regardless, the better use of scarce resources is the ultimate goal.

angelfire9

wexfjord wrote: »

Why mention it then?

Because I sat in my car between 2am and 3am watching the flames get more and more agressive and waited vainly for 30 minutes for a fire service who billed me almost 2k for the privilege of putting out a fire that was virtually out of control by the time they got there but would have been far more manageable had they gotten there within the timeframe recommended by the Clare Co. Co. customer's charter which states a domestic fire within the ennis town limits is supposed to have a fire tender in attendance within 15 minutes of the call out

i rang 999 at 2.23am
the fire service arrived at 3am

I live in Clare's county town, Ennis approximately a 5 minute drive from the fire station
The 2006 census indicates that Ennis had a population of 24,253 making it the largest town in Munster and the sixth largest town in Ireland.
I think its fair to say I don't live in a rural backwater & therefore should be entitled to a decent fire service

How come Dublin Fire Brigade charge NOTHING for these services by the way??

Leo Demidov

angelfire9 wrote: »

My entire estate is timber framed, the lads in ennis know this... didn't make a difference to my 30 minute waiting time though.... but that's another issue...

They were obviously hiding on that eleusive €40

angelfire9

wexfjord wrote: »

If they went over the half hour, your personal catastrophe is free!

LOL

TylerIE

angelfire9 wrote: »

Nope.... 1 appliance as that was all that was available
Scene safety vehicles... in the back ass of nowhere I think not :rolleyes:
3 fire fighters (retained)
midweek 8pm so night time charge applies

€2500... = Clare County council acting the maggot

I live in Clare's county town, Ennis approximately a 5 minute drive from the fire station
The 2006 census indicates that Ennis had a population of 24,253 making it the largest town in Munster and the sixth largest town in Ireland.
I think its fair to say I don't live in a rural backwater

Back ass of nowhere or sixth largest town in Ireland? Or was the accident miles from home...

Either way a scene safety vehicle (jeep or second appliance) would normally be dispatched to all road traffic incidents - even in Dublin, (except there its normally a second appliance, and often a rescue appliance and officer). You may be aware that in the past ES personnell have died attending Road Accidents. Even more common is for bystanders to be hit at RTAs. Only last week there was the conclusion to a court case where a lady died directing traffic at a fatal RTA. A Police Officer died in the States near where I worked 3 weeks ago... These are the risks the Fire Fighters face, and once dispatched (Even if cancelled) they have to mentally prepare.

The bystanders may not have seen it or the second appliance or the other firefighters who were on route, as they would have been cancelled by . You said they ones who came were only there five minutes, therefore others could have been coming from further afield but cancelled. However they would have had to leave their partner/children / football match to dash off so once called they are (rightfully) paid.


I see Clare has compassion in no fees for Fatalities or Serious injuries, and waivers and reductions to Social Welfare recipients for Chimney fires plus individual waivers can be applied for.

angelfire9

lst wrote: »

Back ass of nowhere or sixth largest town in Ireland? Or was the accident miles from home...

Either way a scene safety vehicle (jeep or second appliance) would normally be dispatched to all road traffic incidents - even in Dublin, (except there its normally a second appliance, and often a rescue appliance and officer). You may be aware that in the past ES personnell have died attending Road Accidents. Even more common is for bystanders to be hit at RTAs. Only last week there was the conclusion to a court case where a lady died directing traffic at a fatal RTA. A Police Officer died in the States near where I worked 3 weeks ago... These are the risks the Fire Fighters face, and once dispatched (Even if cancelled) they have to mentally prepare.

The bystanders may not have seen it or the second appliance or the other firefighters who were on route, as they would have been cancelled by . You said they ones who came were only there five minutes, therefore others could have been coming from further afield but cancelled. However they would have had to leave their partner/children / football match to dash off so once called they are (rightfully) paid.


I see Clare has compassion in no fees for Fatalities or Serious injuries, and waivers and reductions to Social Welfare recipients for Chimney fires plus individual waivers can be applied for.

The RTA was in the back ass of nowhere
The house fire was in ennis
There was only 1 appliance AVAILABLE for the RTA due to a fire about 40 miles north of RTA scene

civdef

Fire charges are all down to how county councillors have voted to fund the fire service in their counties.
Most fire service personnel aren't happy with charging, but in the current funding structure, it's a financial necessity.

It'd be great if people could make an election issue out of it come the next local elections.

Goonerdee

It should be a Nationwide free service.

civdef

I agree (with some exceptions*), but until a funding model is sorted out, that's not going to happen.

* Following definitely shouldn't be free in my opinion:

Commercial automatic false alarms. (Major incentive to have a properly functioning alarm system).
Frivolous calls - like where you see 3 crews tied up in the UK "rescuing" a swan.
Chimney fires - just clean the damned thing twice a year.

Goonerdee

civdef wrote: »

I agree (with some exceptions*), but until a funding model is sorted out, that's not going to happen.

* Following definitely shouldn't be free in my opinion:

Commercial automatic false alarms. (Major incentive to have a properly functioning alarm system).
Frivolous calls - like where you see 3 crews tied up in the UK "rescuing" a swan.
Chimney fires - just clean the damned thing twice a year.

Commercial false alarms aren't free in the UK, my brother's company was fined several times for staff accidently activating the fire alarm.

I don't know about Chimney fires but it is rare now to find properties without OFCH.

As for animal rescues, the fire brigade will only respond when they are available and in the area or where the police feel the animals situation may result in injuries to members of the public. I believe it is free, unless it is always the same individual and becomes a nuisance.

Paulzx

Goonerdee wrote: »

I don't know about Chimney fires but it is rare now to find properties without OFCH.

.

There are thousands of houses in this country that have no central heating and are still dependant on open fires. It is not rare to find houses without central heating depending on which area you work in

sdanseo

Eru wrote: »

how much tax do you pay? You think it really covers
fire brigade,
police,
ambulance,
customs officers,
revenue officers
judges
dpp
chief state solicitors
court service
prison officers
probation service
maintenance of all buildings
maintenance of all vehicles
prisoners
social welfare
nurses
doctors
midwives
social workers
teachers
sna's
passport office
embassies abroad
childrens facilities
the multitude of ombudsmen and their offices
government
army
navy
air corp
dublin bus (which runs at a loss btw)
civil defence
maintenance personnel in schools, hospitals, etc
an teasce
department of education
In fact lets just say all clerical sectors of the civil service to save typing more

That's what springs to mind, apologies to all the staff and agencies I missed.

I doubt very much that charging each person 350 per call out would cover the cost of having the service nor do I think taxes should be increased to cover people that don't bother to take preventative steps.

Yes, I think it should. If not, tax should go up a bit.

Also, Dublin Bus is actually the only part of CIÉ that actually turns a small surplus.

Emergency Fire and Ambulance services in my part of the country are a bloody mess but at least there's no charge in Dublin. The only reason for that is probably because negotiating it between DFB, FCC, DCC, SDCC and DLRCC would be frankly beyond their combined mental capacity, given their records. But I'll say this - ANY EMERGENCY service should be universally free of charge, nationwide.. For there to be a charge, for any reason, to an ordinary citizen, is patently ridiculous. The exception should be commercial entities who are examined by the fire authorities and thus should theoretically never need a fire callout.

Zambia

Would they do any better for cash.

999nobody

They'll soon be sticking credit card machines in all emergency vehicles.
Mastercard.......priceless

Our man in Havana

Still waiting for a court summons for a fire brigade call out from 2005.

I guess if you challenge these charges they won't follow them up as they know insurance companies pay these without question.

Fishtits

The OP was lucky.

We've just got a bill for a 44 mile ambulance (just transport) trip for €800.

It would have been cheaper to hire a helicopter - I'm serious.

Someone needs to grab the HSE by the scruff of the neck and sort out this nonsense.

verlona12

we have to pay enough tax in this country, education and health services aren't even free, and this isn't either

kirving

Fishtits wrote: »

The OP was lucky.

We've just got a bill for a 44 mile ambulance (just transport) trip for €800.

It would have been cheaper to hire a helicopter - I'm serious.

If it was really just transport, what's wrong with a taxi?!

noah45

Had a garage fire in Feb this year, phoned Fire Brigade who arrived 35 min later but had no water, waited for a 2nd engine to arrive. They then had to go in search of a water hydrant about 2 miles away. This hydrant was blocked. Eventually they got water but at this stage they couldn't put the fire out as it was too far gone.

Garage and all contents gone. According to Westmeath county council page there is no charge for this and yet we got a bill today for €2500!!! We didn't claim from our insurance for a call out after reading the council website.

Can anyone explain this??? Certainly can't afford to pay it.

goldie fish

why didnt you claim from insurance?