We can't deal with terrorist attack, warn firefighters

THE Chief Fire Officers' Association has written to the Department of Environment warning that the country's fire service is incapable of dealing with a major terrorist attack.

In the letter, seen by the Irish Examiner, the CFOA refers to the bombings in Madrid, and warns about the limited response capacity of the fire service in Ireland, in the event of a similar large-scale emergency occurring here.

A CFOA spokesman said the Irish fire service was in such a 'parlous state' even a minor emergency could lead to serious problems.

"There are no national standards for dealing with incidents like the Dublin Bus disaster. What would happen if that took place somewhere else in the country?" the spokesman asked.

The Farrell Grant Sparks review of the fire service two years ago recommended the establishment of a National Fire Authority (NFA), which would set down standards for the 37 separate fire authorities.

The review said this modernisation process was crucial because the fire service had "weaknesses and shortcomings" and "would not stand up favourably under the inevitable scrutiny and investigation which would follow a major fire or other major emergency incident with multiple casualties".

But the NFA has not yet been established.

The National Firefighters Committee said it fully endorsed the concerns expressed by the CFOA in the letter it sent to the Department of Environment two weeks ago.

"We're are now, post-Madrid, looking at a situation where there could be a strike on this country on May 1 or indeed on June 25 with the Bush visit. Why have fire service personnel not been trained in the appropriate decontamination procedures?" said chairman Brian Murray.

When the city of Bam in Iran was devastated by an earthquake last December, the EU requested help from Irish firefighters.

"We couldn't send anybody because we hadn't been given the appropriate training in structural collapse courses," Mr Murray said.

The committee has written to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to request that the National Fire Authority be set up immediately. There is a basic framework document for responding to major emergencies but the main responsibility now rests with the Office of Emergency Planning and the Task Force on Emergency Planning. However, the CFOA has received almost no information from these bodies, despite the fact fire brigades will be in the frontline if there is a disaster.

In the Dáil last week, Defence Minister Michael Smith said he had requested a review of the State's emergency planning in the aftermath of the Madrid atrocity.

A spokesman for Environment Minister Martin Cullen said there was no basis for the CFOA's concern about a potential terrorist attack. "We're satisfied the fire services are well placed to respond to such an incident."

He added the country's most senior fire officer, Seán Hogan, played a central role in the Office of Emergency Planning. He said the Government invested €85 million in the fire service in the last five years, more than in the previous 13 years.