Dublin Fire Brigade has called Halloween 2026 its busiest in a decade. Crews dealt with hundreds of bonfires, house fires and burning cars across the capital on Saturday night. In Northern Ireland, fireworks were deliberately fired at firefighters at six separate call-outs.
Chief Fire Officer Greg O’Dwyer said the brigade had taken 558 fire calls by midnight on 31 October. The Dublin ambulance service took 483 calls and the wider East Region another 338 fire calls. Speaking on Sunday morning, he said the Emergency Response Coordination Centre had handled more than 1,350 calls in total, with a full breakdown due later in the day.
He put the surge down to a “perfect storm” of factors: a dry evening, which helped fires catch and spread, and Halloween falling on a Saturday night.
Bonfires, burning cars and a derelict house in flames
Most call-outs were to bonfires, along with a smaller number of fires in homes. In Mulhuddart, west Dublin, a bonfire spread to a nearby derelict house and set it alight. Firefighters from Tara Street and North Strand stations rescued three dogs from a house fire in the city centre. Neither of RTÉ’s reports mentions anyone being hurt in that fire.
Despite the record call volume, both gardaí and the fire brigade said there was no disturbance of serious concern overnight. Videos on social media told a rougher story in some estates, though. TheJournal.ie reported footage of fireworks going off across residential streets, cars driven at speed through housing estates, and drivers apparently ramming parked vehicles.
Cherry Orchard in Ballyfermot appeared to be one of the worst-hit areas. Large crowds gathered there, and several cars and wheelie bins were reportedly set on fire. A journalist posted on social media that, according to sources, gardaí had been told not to go into parts of the area. Gardaí had not confirmed this on the record when the reports were published. In one stranger scene, a children’s tourist train from Malahide was filmed being driven along public roads, and a post claimed it later turned up on the Darndale roundabout.
Readers should treat the details from social media videos with caution. Neither the fire brigade nor gardaí had confirmed arrests or injuries linked to the disorder at the time of writing.
Fireworks fired at crews in the North, stones thrown in Kildare
The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said its crews attended 89 operational incidents between 6pm on Saturday and 1am on Sunday, 23 of them bonfires. A spokesperson said fireworks were “intentionally directed at attending fire crews” at six of those incidents. No one was injured, nothing was damaged, and the service kept responding to emergencies throughout.
The weekend had already turned violent for firefighters in Kildare. On Friday night, crews responding to a call were pelted with stones, rocks and other objects. One firefighter was injured, and a fire engine had a window smashed and had to be taken off the road for repairs. The fire service said on social media that this was an attack on the very people who protect the community. It warned that crews may have to pull back from an incident to protect themselves when an appliance is targeted.
Also on Friday, near Dolphin’s Barn in Dublin, a car was driven into a bonfire. Firefighters and gardaí worked together to stop the blaze spreading to nearby property.
The injuries behind the warnings
The busy night followed a week of stark safety warnings. The Irish Times reported that a 20-year-old man in west-central Dublin suffered serious hand injuries, including several finger amputations, when a firework exploded. Mr O’Dwyer warned that illegal fireworks are effectively explosives. Faulty fuses can go off in someone’s hand, and “duds” can explode when people go back to check them.
Gardaí say a growing share of illegal fireworks is now sold through social media and messaging apps, often to young people. Garda figures cited by the Irish Times show that over the past two years, 95% of suspects in fireworks offences were male and three in four were children. During last year’s Halloween week, nine boys with an average age of 12 were referred to the paediatric plastic surgery service at CHI Crumlin with fireworks injuries.
Selling or supplying unlicensed fireworks is a crime in the Republic. It is not illegal in Northern Ireland or Britain, which is one of the main reasons so many fireworks cross the border and come in through the ports every autumn.
What happens next
Dublin Fire Brigade is due to publish its full breakdown of Halloween call-outs on Sunday, which should show how this year compares with previous years. Fireworks are still likely to be set off in the days after Halloween, and gardaí are asking anyone with information on illegal sales to contact their local station. In an emergency, call 999 or 112. Fire services across the island are asking parents to talk to teenagers about the risks and to choose organised, licensed displays over back-garden fireworks.
Sources
- RTÉ: Dublin Fire Brigade reports busiest Halloween in a decade (1 November 2026)
- RTÉ: Dublin Fire Brigade preparing for ‘hundreds of calls’ on Halloween night (31 October 2026)
- TheJournal.ie: Cars set alight amid Halloween disorder across Dublin (1 November 2026)
- TheJournal.ie: Kildare fire crew attacked as public urged to behave responsibly this Halloween (31 October 2026)
- The Irish News (PA): Fireworks ‘intentionally directed’ at fire crews (1 November 2026)
- The Irish Times: Warning over illegal fireworks being sold online to children (30 October 2026)
Leave a Reply