AD HOC training.

FAMILIES living in isolated rural Cork communities have been urged to draw up fire safety plans to prevent a tragedy unfolding before fire fighters can arrive on the scene.

The Chief Fire Officers Association wants local authority funding for fire services to be ringfenced in order to protect it from the economic downturn.

The fire service could be thrown back to the pre-Celtic Tiger days of second-hand vehicles if the Government slashes funding, it was warned today.

TESCO yesterday recalled 4,000 sets of Christmas lights that could deliver an electric shock, while Heatons called back candle holders which may be liable to go on fire.

A FIRE chief who has had a phenomenal impact on the service in Waterford has hung up his boots.

THE Government must step up the enforcement of fire safety in pubs and nightclubs to safeguard the public, the head of the Stardust inquiry warned yesterday.

The Government must step up the enforcement of fire safety in pubs and nightclubs to safeguard the public, the head of the Stardust inquiry warned today.

The Chief Fire Officers Association has said some of the key recommendations of the Stardust inquiry have still not been implemented.

THE Government is set to approve a new emergency plan to deal with potential terrorist and chemical attacks.

A senior US official at the centre of the emergency response to Hurricane Katrina tonight warned of the dangers of leaving a media void.

DEFENCE Minister Willie O’Dea yesterday dismissed as “alarmist” claims by chief fire officers that our emergency services could not cope with a London-style terrorist attack.

The failure to modernise the Irish fire service has undermined the morale of fire officers, it was claimed tonight.

The Government has abandoned plans to set up a national fire authority, it emerged today.

The number of fire deaths in Kerry last year matched the toll in Dublin despite an eight-fold difference in population, it emerged today.

Political Reporter Mary Dundon reports on fears that a legal muddle could lead to a repeat of the 1981 Stardust nightclub disaster.

ANOTHER Stardust disaster could happen because of overcrowding in nightclubs, Liquor Licensing Commission chairman Gordon Holmes warned yesterday.

The Chief Fire Officers Association has given a cautious welcome to plans to establish a National Fire Authority.

The concept of "business continuity management" is due to be introduced to members of the Chief Fire Officers Association at its annual conference in Wexford today.

The Chief Fire Officers Association has called on the Government to implement the findings of a review of fire safety in Ireland that was commissioned two years ago.

FIRE officers have expressed frustration about the failure to establish a National Fire Authority, which was recommended by an expert report two years ago.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern recently declared that this country was unlikely to be a target of a major terrorist strike, a sentiment which possibly did not give comfort to everybody.

FIRE officers have again claimed that the lack of a national fire authority is putting lives at risk.

HOAX calls to fire stations are increasing because callers are less afraid of being recognised, the Chief Fire Officers Association was told yesterday.