People are being urged to dial 999 to report emergencies rather than filming videos of them to post on social media.
Cork Fire Brigade says they are getting fewer calls because people are using their phones to film car crashes or fires.
Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, Third Officer Gerard Ryan said the situation makes their job a lot more difficult.
He explained: "Unfortunately we're coming across more situations where people are putting their own lives in danger and the lives of the emergency services in danger by filming rather than making the phone call.
"They're getting the best picture rather than ringing the fire service, the ambulance service or the gardaí.
"People assume from seeing people on phones that they're actually ringing the emergency services, where some of them are actually just taking photographs for their social media and stuff like that."
Mr Ryan said it happens across other incidents such as road crashes, not just fires - with some passing cars veering towards emergency services' work area as motorists use their phones.
He urged people to follow their advice to call the emergency services before taking photos or videos.
He explained: "The more calls we get, the more accident information we can get.
"The quicker we get there, the safer we can make the situation. Please dial the emergency services - not just the fire service... dial whichever emergency service is needed."
He stressed that people should only make that call when it is safe to do so.
