Brief History of Fire Service in Ireland

Fire services have existed in various forms in Ireland for centuries. One of the earliest known references to fire-fighters is in a manuscript relating to the monastic town of Clonmacnoise in the tenth century. In the nineteenth century, fire services started to develop with fire brigades run by insurance companies.

The fire service is operated at local level by 37 fire authorities. There are 220 fire stations throughout the country with 3,330 serving fire service personnel, of whom 1,185 are full-time and 2,145 are retained (on a 24 hour basis).

Before 1940 the service depended, apart from some provision in local Acts, on the Towns Improvement Act, 1854, which enabled fire-fighting and related equipment to be provided in towns of 1,500 population and upwards at the discretion of the local authority. The power was exercised in a limited number of cases only.

In rural areas, Section 90 of the Public Health Acts (Amendment) Act, 1907, which was adoptive, enabled local authorities to enter into agreements for the common use of fire-fighting equipment and for mutual assistance. Persons in rural areas calling for assistance from an urban fire service were liable to have to meet the costs involved in bringing the brigade to the scene.

By 1940, the number of mobile fire appliances maintained by local authorities was still only 24. The threat and advent of war underlined the need for an overhaul of the system.

The Fire Brigades Act, 1940 was the basis for the first countrywide fire-fighting system. It made it mandatory for sanitary authorities, urban and rural, to make reasonable provision for the prompt and efficient extinguishing of fires in their areas and for the protection and rescue of persons and property from injury by fire. In doing this they were to take account of all relevant considerations, including their financial resources.

A sanitary authority could discharge this duty either by maintaining a fire brigade (in which case it became a fire brigade authority) or by arranging with another sanitary authority (or with persons) maintaining a fire brigade to cover its district.

The then Minister for Local Government was empowered to inquire, on complaint, into the adequacy of the provision made by a local authority and could, in certain circumstances, require local authorities to co-operate in the provision of a fire service.

Modern legislation in the form of the Fire Services Act, 1981 established the fire authorities and made provision for the organisation of the fire service, training of fire personnel, fire-fighting and fire safety, and other matters relating to the protection of people and property from fire.

The fire service has developed over the years from its traditional role of putting out fires and rescuing persons and property. It now also has a role in relation to fire safety standards in the design of new and improved buildings and changes of use and in relation to the fire safety aspects of the day to day use of buildings to which the public have access. The service is also a first line of response to all sorts of emergencies and is called on to deal with matters such as road traffic accidents, incidents involving dangerous chemicals, pollution and flooding, as well as fires.

The fire service is operated at local level by 37 fire authorities. There are 220 fire stations throughout the country with 3,330 serving fire service personnel, of whom 1,185 are full-time and 2,145 are retained (on a 24 hour basis).