Halloween is fast approaching, and this time of year is synonymous with bangers, fireworks and bonfires. So far, Dublin CIty Council has confiscated over 500 tonnes of stockpiled materials which had been planned for bonfires.

Newstalk’s Henry Mc Kean went out to meet some young people who have been collecting pallets, mattresses and wood for their own bonfire night tomorrow

Listen to the podcast here:

 Across Ireland local authorities are struggling to deal with last minute bonfires popping up in housing estates and fields.

Dublin CIty council have confiscated over 500 tonnes of stockpiled materials this year so far which were planned for bonfires and last year over a thousand tyres and 800 tonnes of wood, pallets and mattresses were seized.

Some blue paletes stored before the fire

______________________________________________________________________________________________

This hasn't stopped teenagers across Ireland from collecting wood and storing it anywhere they can, in their back garden or on wasteland. Leaving it until the last minute to build a bonfire as to catch The Fire Brigade off guard.

Henry spoke to young people secretly collecting dangerous things to burn, and they have been collecting for weeks. I met a gang of 15 teenagers between 13 and 15 years of age building a massive bonfire of over 100 blue and red pallets and 20 mattresses. Henry witnessed them trying to break into an industrial estate with their trolleys.

Dublin Fire Brigade do their best at this time of year and they are actively encouraging people to log onto dublincity.ie<http://dublincity.ie> for an official safe bonfires and for pets to be kept indoors. If you want to report young people building bonfires call their litter hotline which is 1800 251 500 during office hours.

Fireworks are extremely dangerous and cause a lot of injuries and damage every year but it won't stop this 13 year old playing with them.

What Henry thinks:

We really should respect The Fire Brigade, they are stretched on Halloween night, responding to normal call outs and between 6pm on Halloween night and 8am the next morning over 650 call outs across the city and county, the numbers are reducing from 871 in 2009 due to better education and more organised events. Please use common sense and try and have fun and remember it's not just your Halloween, everyone can enjoy it. Be Safe Stay Safe.

An example of a firework injury

______________________________________________________________________________________________