Call for regular maintenance plan for fire hydrants in Tipperary

An access point to a fire hydrant. Photo © Tipp FM.

A Carrick-on-Suir councillor is calling for fire hydrants to be checked and maintained regularly.

Councillor Kieran Bourke is seeking annual reports outlining any faults, repairs and the status of all hydrants around the county.

He said that these are used by firefighters in emergencies and need to be maintained properly.

Councillor Bourke told Tipp FM that it’s unclear who is responsible and how often they are checked, if at all.

“Who is maintaining our fire hydrants, how do we know how much pressure is in there?

“Surely to God there’s standards there, there’s health and safety standards that there should be so many pounds per square inch of water pressure in these hydrants.

“But it’s not just pressure, is the fire hydrant rusty, can it be opened, when was it opened last?

“I mean there’s fire hydrants around under our footpaths and public roads that haven’t been opened in years – surely to God somebody is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of these.”