The Dublin Fire Brigade had to deal with more than 700 calls over the course of Halloween night, and at one point the fire service was processing a call every 40 seconds.
A Saturday night coupled with dry mild weather made it one of the busiest nights for years in Dublin, although it was reported to be quieter elsewhere across the State.
The Eastern Region, which covers emergency calls in Leinster, Monaghan and Cavan, handled 701 calls between 4pm and 8am on Sunday compared to just under 600 last year.
Incidents in the capital made up the bulk of the calls, with 282 ambulance calls and 290 fire calls dealt with over the course of the night.
Rogue fireworks
Crews from Dublin Fire Brigade had to attend 205 bonfires while ambulance crews attended 30 assault cases. In some incidents, cars were set on fire while a number of house fires were sparked by rogue fireworks and sparks flying from nearby bonfires.
There were also several violent incidents with some emergency service units coming under attack from stone-throwing youths.
In one of the most serious incidents, an ambulance came under attack while attending an incident in Kilbarrack. The ambulance was attempting to transport a patient to hospital when its crew came under attack from a man who tried to board the vehicle to remove the patient. A fire engine rushed to the ambulance crew’s assistance but it too came under attack before the Garda Public Order unit was called.
A window was smashed in the ambulance and it was off the road for almost two hours.
No medical staff or firefighters were injured in that incident or a number of others in which they came under attack. The ambulance crew carried on its work in a spare ambulance.
Throughout the course of Saturday night Dublin Fire Brigade staff tweeted what was happening with its crews across the city and the constant stream of posts gave social media users a glimpse at what the service had to contend with.
Innovative
The posts carried images and text outlining, in real time, what various tenders were doing and when they were coming under attack, and the innovative use of the medium received multiple plaudits from users of the social network.
Images of the ambulance which had its windows smashed were posted as well as pictures and short videos of firefighters tackling blazes.
In addition to tweeting about events as they happened, the Dublin Fire Brigade’s social media team also posted updates of when particular fires had been dealt with and when roads which had been closed as a result of incidents were due to reopen.
