Fire Service Operations

We provide a fire and rescue service from twenty fire stations, which are located throughout the county. Emergency calls include domestic and commercial fires, road traffic collisions, gorse fires, chemical incidents and other hazardous occurrences within the county.

The service is separated into four geographical divisions, with divisional headquarters in the fire stations of Bantry, Mallow, Midleton and Carrigaline. Each division comes under the responsibility of a Senior Executive Fire Officer, who is assisted by an Assistant Chief Fire Officer with regard to fire service operational matters within that division. Individual Station Officers and Sub-Station Officers oversee the running of the services provided to the public from each fire station.

Each Fire Station is manned by between 10 and 12 retained firefighters. There are 214 dedicated part-time firefighters working for Cork County Fire Department.

Each new recruit firefighter undertakes a three-week recruitment course on basic fire fighting skills and road traffic collisions. This is followed by a two-week course on the use of the breathing apparatus and a two-day course on Compartment Fire Behaviour. Retained firefighters also undertake continuous training by means of weekly drill nights at each local fire station.

Firefighters also undertake specialised training in Occupational First Aid, Medical First Responder, Water Awareness, Hazardous Materials Training and Road Traffic Collision Training. Firefighters also undertake regular refresher training in these topics to maintain and enhance their skills.

Newly appointed Station Officers and Sub-Station Officers undertake specialised officer Command and Control Courses to develop and enhance their skills. Some Officers qualify as instructors in certain disciplines which enables them to deliver the training both on a Station and Countywide basis.