Crash man gets firefighters bill

A Donegal motorist has said he was astonished after being charged more than 1,000 euros for firefighters to attend a crash he was involved in.

The itemised bill from the county council was sent to the man's home in St Johnston.

It charges him nearly 300 euros for a fire appliance from Stranorlar and 729 euros for one from Northern Ireland.

The man who does not want to be named said it was "ridiculous", especially as he did not call for the fire service.

"I never called them out so I don't think I should have to pay it," he said.

"It just says about the price and what fire brigades came and where they came from and what they're looking for.

"They're looking for 1,024 for coming out and doing nothing, never had to cut anybody out or nothing."

Bobby McMenamin, the acting chief fire officer for Donegal, said the billing system has been in place since 1985.

"With any response from the fire service in the Republic, there is a charge and a bill is issued," he said.

"A typical house or chimney fire would be about 100 euro."

"But a commercial or business fire is billed at the full rate plus 30%, and then a road accident is the full rate of 1,000 euro."

Mr McMenamin said that the bills are sent to the owners of the cars involved in an accident.

"Sometimes the cost is divided by the number of cars involved," he said.

"If there is a court case the person who is found responsible for the accident then pays it through their insurance "

"We do look at every case individually, for example if there are any fatalities we would not bill the family."