FIREfighters at the country's busiest station are refusing to work from the facility over fears of a Legionnaires' disease outbreak at the unit.

Fire crews refused to work from the major Dolphin's Barn station last night after the contamination of their open fresh water tank.

As a result of the contamination, a firefighter working from the station is currently being tested for the potentially deadly Legionnaires' disease. Legionnaires' is a rare form of pneumonia which affects less than a dozen people in Ireland every year.

Union officials representing the fire crew members told management that members would not work from the station after management were unable to allay firefighters' fears that the water tanks were safe.

Firefighters normally based at the Dolphin's Barn site are now operating from nearby stations in the centre of the city.

But while the de-facto transfer to other stations has kept the firefighter numbers at the required level, a staff member at the station told the Herald that ambulance and fire brigade response times are being delayed.

Closed

"Dolphin's Barn fire station is closed as we're refusing to work there due to confirmed water contamination.

"There were dead pigeons and pigeon faeces in open fresh water tank and management have been unable to prove water is safe."

Responding to the claims, a spokesperson for the Dublin Fire Brigade said that while an incident has occurred, the Dolphin's Barn station "is still being manned" by an undisclosed "minimum" number of fire fighters.

The fire brigade spokesperson confirmed that almost all fire crew members based at the facility have decided to operate from nearby stations instead, but insisted that "the service is not being affected".

And she added that while at least one staff member is being tested for Legionnaires' disease, "exhaustive" efforts have been made in the past to clarify that there is no health and safety issue at the facility.

The Dolphin's Barn incident follows similar concerns of a Legionnaires' outbreak raised in July by members of staff at the Irish headquarters of major insurance firm Allianz.

Last month, two members of staff in their 40s and 50s at the facility in Elm Park, Dublin, were confirmed to be infected with the disease.

A cooling tower used as part of the air conditioning system was found to have high levels of the Legionella bacterium which helps to spread the disease, with suspicions that the tower was the source of the outbreak.

- Fiachra O'Cionnaith