Truck Fire 08/09/14 N2 Northbound before J2

Irish Steve

Just come home from Dublin, was in Northpoint NCT centre, and as I was leaving, there was a radio flash that there was a truck on fire on the N2 Northbound, and the overhead Matrix signs pm the M50 were also lit, warning of an incident.

As I joined the N2 at Finglas, I saw a Meath Fire service heading towards Dublin, and on reaching the incident, just north of the Kilshane overbridge, it was apparent that the emergency services were still not in attendance.

There was one Traffic Incident van on scene, directing traffic away from the truck on the hard shoulder, by this time, the tractor unit was well ablaze, fortunately, the relevant people had managed to separate the trailer, so the load was protected.

Shortly after, the first of 3 Meath fire service tenders that I'd seen arrived on the scene, while I was waiting in the relatively short queue to get past the incident.

What I can't understand, and it makes no sense to me, given how close the incident was to Dublin, why were Dublin Fire service (Finglas station is a LOT closer than Ashbourne) not mobilised to the incident, and if Finglas were not available, surely Phibsboro, or Blanchardstown should have been able to respond faster than a Meath unit.

Don't get me wrong, I have no issues with the quality of the Meath Fire service, I know several of them locally, my concern is that just from a safety aspect, the closest station should have been mobilised in order to reduce the risk of injury to passing motorists, given that the Motorway was not closed, and traffic was still being allowed to pass a fiercely burning artic tractor on the hard shoulder.

I'm also slightly surprised that there was no Garda presence at the scene. is a major vehicle fire on a motorway not seen as a significant incident any more, or did the timing of this incident fall into the "shift changeover" slot, so there wasn't a patrol available to respond?