Fire officers back plans for rapid reaction regional hubs in Cork and elsewhere

Cork is to become home to one of four national rapid reaction regional hubs, specifically designed to respond to major emergencies.

The four Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) regional hubs, which will be introduced under a new Government initiative, will be based in Cork, Galway, Dublin, and Laois.

The announcement has been described by Victor Shine, second officer with Cork City Fire Brigade, as “fantastic news” for Leeside.

“In Cork city there was a technical line access team a number of years ago, but this is a more diverse team that will be capable of dealing with multi-disciplinary functions from building collapses to explosions, major weather alerts, floods, and so on,” he said.

“It’s a national team that can be mobilised to anywhere in the country.”

The announcement has received unanimous support from the Irish Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA), which at its annual conference in Galway this week also endorsed the nationwide rollout of high-volume pumping (HVP) capabilities, technology which will allow fire services to move large quantities of water from flooded areas.

CFOA chairperson Dennis Keely said the introduction of USAR hubs and HVP technology would foster unprecedented cross-border collaboration with fire services in Northern Ireland for specialist emergency response.

Mr Keely said the need for a rapid deployment capability for major incidents had been underscored in government circles during the October 2022 Creeslough tragedy, in which 10 people were killed in an explosion at a service station in the Donegal village.

During that incident, Irish emergency services sought assistance from the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.

“Cross-border co-operation between the fire services of Ireland and Northern Ireland is a critical component of the broader emergency response, particularly in specialised areas such as USAR and HVP,” Mr Keely said.