Firefighters at risk of syringe injuries in Cork

Heroin use by addicts in derelict buildings throughout Cork city could result in a fatality, according to a senior fire officer.

And fire brigade staff in the city are also concerned that they are at risk of diseases because of the increasing number of syringes being found at the scenes of fires in derelict buildings used by heroin addicts.

The fears have been raised two weeks after a fire at the Lough Tavern, a location used by drug addicts.

When previously called to fires in the building, fire officers found syringes, indicating heroin use.

Other locations being used by heroin users include the disused Our Lady’s Hospital site, and derelict buildings and flats around the city.

Third officer of Cork City Fire Brigade, Edward Buckley, said there was concern that a drug user’s life could be lost if a fire broke out in a building being used by them.

He also said that while fire officers wear personal protective equipment at all fires, there was a concern that gloves were not strong enough to mitigate against being stabbed by syringes at such scenes.

This, he said, poses health risks to fire brigade staff.

He said: “The hidden dangers are a concern.”

Gardaí acknowledged that intravenous use of heroin is increasing in the city over the past year.

The growth in the drug’s popularity in Cork was explored on TV3’s ‘Crime Capitals’ programme last Monday.

More than 20 heroin-related deaths have come before Cork’s coroner’s court in the past two years — there were none before 2004 in Cork city.

Article courtesy of the Evening Echo newspaper.