Fire brigades help woman in labour during Storm Ellen in Cork

Victor Shine of Cork Fire Service said he had to "roll up the sleeves' when he came across Cork County Fire Brigade in the process of assisting an ambulance call for a woman in labour last night. Picture: Jim Coughlan.

Cork City and County Fire Brigade has reported coming to the assistance of a woman in labour who was en route to hospital from Crosshaven overnight amid Storm Ellen.

Victor Shine, Second Officer at Cork City Fire Brigade, was working on callouts in the city last night.

On his way home shortly after midnight Mr Shine came across Cork County Fire Brigade who were in the process of assisting an ambulance call for a woman in labour.

Mr Shine told the Opinion Line, on Cork's 96FM, that he had to "roll up the sleeves" for that particular incident.

"I came across that lady first in labour in the car and access out of Crosshaven was completely blocked by trees in all directions. So we just handled the situation until the arrival of the ambulance. The lady was removed to hospital where I expect she has a baby boy now.

I was trying to encourage her to use my name (to name the child) or Storm something really exciting!

Mr Shine said the City Fire Brigade received in excess of 35 calls about fallen trees.

Big monkey puzzle tree down in Mahon #StormEllen pic.twitter.com/SwuSEudVF9

— Con Finucane (@conredman) August 19, 2020

"Some of the calls were a little bit more interesting with a car on top of trees due to the driver maybe coming across it without observing it on the road. It was removed very quickly and the driver was able to go home safely. It was an exceptionally old historical tree in Mahon.

"We also had a caravan where a roof came off with some people inside and some people had to be made safe. The caravan was secured and people removed. A lot of automatic car alarms went off with strong winds."

Cork City Council has reported that crews attended 40 emergency callouts relating to fallen trees and debris.

⚠️Severe Weather Update⚠️

🌳Overnight Cork City Council crews attended 40 emergency call-outs relating to fallen trees and debris

🏞️All public parks are being inspected for damage & may open later (updates to follow) #StormEllen #StaySafe pic.twitter.com/puSALNTeZn

— Cork City Council (@corkcitycouncil) August 20, 2020

All public parks will be inspected for damage and fallen trees before being opened and as a result may open later than usual this morning.

Power lines are down in a number of locations. Under no circumstances should a member of the public approach damaged power lines. Please ring the ESB immediately on 1850 372 999.

To report a fallen tree during Storm Ellen please call Cork City Council’s Customer Service Unit on: 021 492 4000.