Rural areas urged to draw up fire safety plans

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 county’s chief fire officer, Seamus Coughlan, said the move is necessary because the county’s size means that large parts of east and west Cork cannot be immediately accessed by those working in the service.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner at the Chief Fire Officers Association’s (CFOA) annual conference in Meelick, Co Clare, Mr Coughlan said the reality of having responsibility for covering such a large, mainly rural landmass means the fire service cannot always guarantee that it will immediately arrive at the scene of a crisis. And while he stressed that the county’s 215 fire fighters, who work in 21 stations across Cork, will be on hand to quickly rescue the vast majority of those whose lives are at risk, it is essential that families in urban and particularly isolated rural areas devise their own safety plans in the event of a crisis.