DUBLIN FIRE BRIGADE STATION 3 ON PHIBSBOROUGH ROAD
The Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) is the local authority fire and rescue service for Dublin City and the majority of the Greater Dublin Area. It is a branch of Dublin City Council. There are currently 14 fire stations manned by DFB, 12 of which are full-time, the other 2 are part-time or “retained”. Full-time stations are manned by shifts across 4 watches, A, B, C & D. There are currently over 1350 active firefighter/paramedic personnel making it the largest fire service based on manpower and resources in Ireland.
Dublin City’s first municipal fire engines were delivered in 1705. Throughout the second half of the 18th Century, insurance brigades were the primary source of firefighting for the city, operating independently for buildings bearing the mark of their respective insurance companies. Eventually the brigades began to co-operate on a competition basis with the first brigade on scene being the highest paid. It wasn’t until 1862 with the enactment of the Dublin Corporation Act, that the city had an organised fire brigade.
Dublin man J.R. Ingram became the first superintendent of the brigade, having worked as a fireman in New York and London. The brigade consisted of 24 men with a makeshift fire brigade station on Winetavern Street in The Liberties. In 1898 the Dublin Fire Brigade Ambulance Service was established. The turn of the century saw the brigade have its first fire stations and permanent headquarters built, with the first motorised fire engine coming on stream in 1909.
Organised firefighting began in what is now Northern Ireland in the 19th century. In 1800, the Belfast Borough Police were established and firefighting was one of their duties. The firefighting units were later separated from the police to form the Belfast Fire Brigade.
Until World War II, towns had their own fire services. In 1942, Northern Ireland’s fire services were amalgamated into one, though they were separate from the National Fire Service that covered the rest of the United Kingdom. After the war, the service was split into the re-established Belfast Fire Brigade and the Northern Ireland Fire Authority, which covered the rest of Northern Ireland.
On 1 October 1973, the two fire services were merged into a single service, named Northern Ireland Fire Brigade. In 2006, the service adopted its current name of Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.
You must be logged in to post a comment.