Wednesday 17 January 2024
Mark Deeney, Assistant Chief Fire & Rescue Officer, Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) said:
“Last night (Tuesday 16 January 2024) at 10.05pm a Fire Appliance from Cadogan Fire Station was involved in a road traffic collision with a Translink bus on the Upper Lisburn Road whilst en route to an incident. There were no passengers on the bus.
“A number of Firefighters on-board the Fire Appliance and the driver of the bus were taken to hospital. The injuries sustained were non-life threatening, most have been discharged from hospital and we wish everyone well in their recovery.
“We recognise the impact of being involved in a road traffic collision, whilst responding to an emergency call, will have on our Firefighters. We will continue to support them in any way we can.
“I would like to thank our Firefighters from Fire Stations in Belfast who responded to the incident involving their colleagues. Thanks also to our colleagues from PSNI and Northern Ireland Ambulance Service for their emergency response and to Translink colleagues for their support at the scene.
“To reassure the local community your Fire and Rescue Service continues to be ready to respond when you need us most. Contingency arrangements were immediately put in place last night. However with the current weather forecast and other public sector strikes planned tomorrow I am encouraging the public to heed safety messaging at this time to help minimise incidents that Firefighters and other emergency responders are required to attend.”
“An investigation into the cause of the incident is ongoing. In supporting the PSNI appeal I would ask anyone who may have witnessed the incident or captured what happened on dash-cam or CCTV footage to contact police on 101, quoting reference 187 16/01/24.”