Fire Services

Annabananna

I had to call the fire services this morning as next doors compost heap went on fire and spread to a tree next to wooden shed in their garden.

I am wondering how much to they charge to come out as I will be liability for this charge as I called them

Agent Coulson

A friend was charged €200 for a chimney fire call out. So I would guess it would be in and around that price.

racso1975

Carlow County Council:

Domestic chimney fires: €250 Other domestic fires: For other domestic fires charged on the basis of no. of firemen x hourly wage of €19.86 plus any materials used during the call out.

Mr Simpson

The person who 'benefits' from the call out is charged, not the caller. So if the fire was on someone elses property, they would be charged, not you

Annabananna

Mr Simpson are you sure it be my neighbour will be charged not me I had to call as there garden shed is right across from the patio doors in my house and would not let someone house go up while I watched all the other neighbours cam out saying that I be the one that will be charged when I was waiting on fire services.

They were here for 40 mins so cant be that much as they only used powder

Mr Simpson

Annabananna wrote: »

Mr Simpson are you sure it be my neighbour will be charged not me I had to call as there garden shed is right across from the patio doors in my house and would not let someone house go up while I watched all the other neighbours cam out saying that I be the one that will be charged when I was waiting on fire services.

They were here for 40 mins so cant be that much as they only used powder

It was made clear when fire brigade charges were brought in. It would make no sense for a third party caller to be charged, thatwould discourage people from calling the fire brigade if they saw someone elses property on fire

Annabananna

Yes that what I thought also but have had about 20 people tell me I be charge anything to 200e to 900e for making the call.

Super-Rush

You won't be charged.

Had to call them myself for a neighbours chimney fire a couple of years back and they were charged.

Mr Simpson

Annabananna wrote: »

Yes that what I thought also but have had about 20 people tell me I be charge anything to 200e to 900e for making the call.

They're wrong, and its a common misconception. You wont be charged, the property owner will.

foggy_lad

Mr Simpson wrote: »

They're wrong, and its a common misconception. You wont be charged, the property owner will.

Kildare CoCo tried it on a few years back when the bills were sent to every person named in the fire officers reports, Those that lived or owned the property were sent the main bill but anyone that phoned in a report was sent other bills for different amounts which made little sense, the bills were accompanied by quite nasty threatening letters explaining the consequences of not paying. There was uproar at the time and Joe Duffy even got a call or two about it.

SV

Anyone else find it strange that you have to pay for the fire brigade? I mean imagine having to pay a fee every time a crime was committed and you called the Gardaí.

slimjimmc

SV wrote: »

Anyone else find it strange that you have to pay for the fire brigade? I mean imagine having to pay a fee every time a crime was committed and you called the Gardaí.

I don't, you also can be charged for other emergency services such as HSE ambulances. The public purse is not fat enough to cover full costs plus I suppose that knowing you could have to pay for the consequences might make people a bit more cautious when it comes to fire risk.

SV

slimjimmc wrote: »

I don't, you also can be charged for other emergency services such as HSE ambulances. The public purse is not fat enough to cover full costs plus I suppose that knowing you could have to pay for the consequences might make people a bit more cautious when it comes to fire risk.

Taxes should be increased so it is, though.
Yeah, paying for Ambulances, I mean..really?

The message it sends out is "We'll help you, but only if you can afford it" It's just a joke of a system imo.
I don't think having to pay for the fire brigade if it's needed has any bearing on how fire safe people are, noone wants their stuff going on fire regardless.

slimjimmc

SV wrote: »

Taxes should be increased so it is, though.
Who said that? It's one possibility, I'm sure there are others.

SV wrote: »

Yeah, paying for Ambulances, I mean..really?

Ambulance service.

Rates
Unless you have a medical card, you may be charged for ambulance services. However, the practice varies between parts of the and charges may be waived in certain cases (i.e., hardship), etc.

Likewise if you're unfortunate enough to be in a collision requiring you to be extradited from a vehicle by a fire service you may be billed for that too.

SV wrote: »

The message it sends out is "We'll help you, but only if you can afford it" It's just a joke of a system imo.

You'll get the help regardless of affordability, have no doubt on that but you could have to fork out for it later.

SV wrote: »

I don't think having to pay for the fire brigade if it's needed has any bearing on how fire safe people are, noone wants their stuff going on fire regardless.

You're right, no one wants their stuff going on fire but plenty don't take adequate precautions either. There was quite a hoo-hah years ago after councils massively increased call-out charges for chimney fires, I'm sure that got some people, at least, thinking about a chimney sweep.

SV

slimjimmc wrote: »

Ambulance service.


Likewise if you're unfortunate enough to be in a collision requiring you to be extradited from a vehicle by a fire service you may be billed for that too.


You'll get the help regardless of affordability, have no doubt on that but you could have to fork out for it later.


You're right, no one wants their stuff going on fire but plenty don't take adequate precautions either. There was quite a hoo-hah years ago after councils massively increased call-out charges for chimney fires, I'm sure that got some people, at least, thinking about a chimney sweep.

I didn't deny it, I know it's true, I just find it ridiculous.
It would have people second guessing whether they should call the fire brigade or an ambulance because of the associated costs going with it.

And ok, that's fair enough if the fire is because of neglect on behalf of the homeowner (i.e Chimney fires) but do you honestly think people have a mentality of "Ah sure I better not leave the candles unattended, the cost of the fire brigade these days!!" I'd say they're more concerned about their property being destroyed than any associated cost. It's just insult to injury.


Yeah, you get the help..and for the privilege of it you can be forced into quite serious debt.

Super-Rush

Correct me if i'm wrong but doesn't the money collected from the charges pay the wages of firemen?

Mr Simpson

Super-Rush wrote: »

Correct me if i'm wrong but doesn't the money collected from the charges pay the wages of firemen?

It goes towards all costs

Super-Rush

Firemen are still volunteers right?

Mr Simpson

Super-Rush wrote: »

Firemen are still volunteers right?

Retained firefighters aren't volunteers, its just not their full-time jobs. They're paid whilst on callouts

SV

They get paid, so they're not volunteers. It's very very hard to get a job as a fireman.

Sailorian

The caller wont be charged. Most incidendts (fire, RTC or resue) are investigated and the person(s) at fault will be charged. Most house fires are covered by insurance. However of an incident involved a fatality, most times no charge is applied.

And fire fighters are paid, but like the other front line services, its not nearly enough. With that said fire fighters do volunteer as a group within their locality do jobs that most others wont. Like putting up the Christmas lights around towns, raising money for charity, marsheling for events etc. Good people doing good things that most people dont see.

So dont worry about being charged by your local council, you'll only be charged if it was your fault and your most likly covered by insurance anyway. Local councils have a policy in place so as not to cause hardship with charges also, for example those on social welfare payments.