St Declan’s Community College, Kilmacthomas, received a fire bill of €1,000 when the fire alarm went off due to a technical fault in the system and the Fire Brigade turned up at the college, this week’s meeting of Waterford Co Council was told.
Cllr John O’Leary (FF) said there was no fire to fight when the Brigade arrived at the school and the bill was a very heavy one. The college was already under financial strain and he appealed to Fire Service management to rescind the bill.
Director of Services Frank Curran said it should be made clear that if the alarm went off and the Fire Brigade attended the scene that there would be a charge. This was not the first time that Fire Brigades had responded to an alarm call of this type and the installers of these alarms should consider this, he suggested.