Cars alight and a downed lamp post blocking the entrance to an estate in Fortunestown. Photo Dublin Fire Brigade/Twitter

Members of Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) came under attack last night as they attempted to extinguish a fire in the city centre.

It’s been a chaotic Halloween for emergency services who are responding to over 200 calls of incidents across the capital.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Assistant Chief Fire Officer with Dublin Fire Brigade, Greg O'Dwyer, said there were approximately 230 fire-related calls between 4pm yesterday and 6am today, and 298 ambulance-related activities.

In one incident, fire officers encountered anti-social behaviour when responding to a report of bins set alight at a flat complex in Pearse House off Hanover Street East.

Firefighters from North Strand fire station at 2 cars on fire in Darndale off the R139. Our crews have finished on scene after they encountered anti social behaviour #Dublin #fire #DFBLive #Halloween #halloween2019 pic.twitter.com/Ja2LVP8aqF — Dublin Fire Brigade (@DubFireBrigade) October 31, 2019

But as they attempted to put out the blaze, rocks and fireworks were thrown at them. Thankfully, no members of DFB were injured in the incident and the fire was extinguished successfully.

In Cherry Orchard and Tallaght, DFB responded to two derelict houses set ablaze and in Santry, Finglas fire station responded to a fire inside a warehouse.

Nearby, in Fortunestown, two cars were set alight and a lamp post was knocked down which blocked the entrance to an estate and in Tallaght two tyre fires were reported, which prompted DFB to issue a warning.

“Smoke from tyres is particularly toxic and damaging to the environment. Fires like these can easily spread to houses and nearby property,” a spokesperson said.

Firefighters (Dolphins Barn station) extinguishing an early #Halloween bonfire after it was used as a barricade across a road in Drimnagh #Dublin #fire #halloween2019 #DFBLive pic.twitter.com/OpZPQhx1eB — Dublin Fire Brigade (@DubFireBrigade) October 31, 2019

A bonfire was also used to barricade a road in Drimnagh, but the fire service at Dolphins Barn station successfully extinguished it without further issue.

A video shared online tonight also depicted a number of juveniles launching fireworks at a moving garda car.

Across the rest of the country, there were 72 calls in Munster, making it a relatively quiet Halloween for crews in the south of the country, who would receive up to 20 calls in hours of darkness on a regular night.

Fire operations teams also told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that Limerick city didn't receive a single bonfire call this year.

The Castlebar division, which covers Connacht and Donegal, received 50 calls in hours of darkness. Most of the calls came fro Galway city, but there was no major trouble caused.

In Leinster, 115 calls were placed. Kildare was the busiest county outside of Dublin, who responded to 27 calls across the night. This was followed by 17 calls in Monaghan and 10 in Westmeath, and the rest of the counties were in single digits.

Northern Ireland operations staff saw a 40pc decrease in calls from last year, with 77 emergency calls placed and crews responding to 51 instances. Of these, 10 were bonfire-related.

Online Editors