FIRE ENGINE IN TEMPLE BAR

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Dublin Fire Brigade was officially brought into being with the Dublin Corporation Fire Brigade Act of 1862. Today the Brigade has over 900 personnel and is responsible for providing fire cover for Dublin City and County, for providing and an emergency ambulance service for much of Dublin and for operating a control room which responds it ambulances in Dublin and mobilizes fire appliances in five counties.
Dublin which is a fast growing city of over 1 million people is situated on the east coast of Ireland at the mouth of the river Liffey. The area of Dublin is over 922sq kilometres.
The city and county contain a whole range of risks associated with firefighting and medical emergencies. From several airports, to chemical factories, schools, numerous hospitals a major seaport and any number of other risks. All of these must be taken into account when providing the necessary level of fire and emergency medical services.

Under the 1981 Fire Services Act the local authority is charged with providing a fire service. Dublin City Council (formerly Dublin Corporation) runs this service on behalf of the 4 local authorities in Dublin. The other 3 are Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, South Dublin County Council and Fingal County Council.
The ambulance service operates under guidelines laid down by the Pre-Hosptial Emergency Care Committee (PHECC). Dublin Fire Brigade’s first ambulance responded in 1898.

Dublin Fire Brigade has 15 stations 11 of which are fulltime and the remaining 4 in North County Dublin are retained (paid per call on pager). 10 of the stations have ambulances that operate from them. Firefighters rotate from ambulance to fire duties with the frequency depending on the number of personnel in each station. All firefighters are trained to Emergency Medical Technician Part-B standard with a number also having completed the American paramedic standard course. (see ambulance page)

Dublin Fire Brigade also runs a regional control room manned by firefighters and officers which received 143,350 calls for assistance in 2000 with over 105,275 of these requiring a response by either a fire engine or ambulance. The statistics page list the most frequent type of calls.

The training centre for the fire brigade is located on the northside of the city and is the largest in Ireland.
All training from fire to medical takes place here not only for it’s staff but also for many other individuals and organizations both from Ireland and abroad. A whole range of courses are run at the centre.

The headquarters for Dublin Fire Brigade which is located in the city centre includes Fire Brigade Administration, Control Centre, Central Fire Station, and Fire Prevention.

The role of the Fire Prevention Section includes ensuring adequate fire safety in buildings and other structures, and is governed primarily by the Fire Services Act 1981, the Building Control Act 1990, and various guides to fire safety in buildings of different use.

Among the recent introductions Dublin Fire Brigade has started a Swiftwater Rescue Response, has candidates on the EMT Advanced program and is currenlty training in technical rope heights rescue.