Fire Crews Haven’t Been Trained To Deal With Solar Farm Blazes

Wexford’s local radio station

Council fire officials have admitted they haven’t been trained to deal with fires connected to solar farms.

The issue was raised by councillor Pat Barden at yesterday’s meeting of the New Ross Municipal District.

He asked members of the fire service if they have experience dealing with blazes at battery storage facilities.

Fire safety concerns were one of the key objections to the solar farm planned for Gusserane which has now been granted planning permission.

Chief Fire Officer of Wexford County Council Alan O’Neill admitted his members have not been trained to deal with these kinds of fires and there’s no national guidance for what to do if a fire breaks out.

He also confirmed a national strategy is being worked on and that Wexford was one of the first counties to adopt guidance on this from British authorities.

Mr O’Neill said despite this, he would be confident they could tackle a blaze by allowing the fire to burn out similar to other electrical fires.

That report was funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.