Strength of fire brigade in Offaly station increases to all time high

For the first time in its history the strength of Clara fire brigade has risen to 12 crew members. This follows the appointment last week of recruit firefighters Niall Keegan and Charles Duffy.

Clara fire station, like the majority in Ireland, is crewed by retained (or on-call) firefighters who carry a pager. When it activates those on call respond from their home or place of work to the fire station within 5 minutes.

The appointment of the new firefighters follows industrial action nationally by retained firefighters which highlighted the difficulties in recruiting and keeping crews at many fire stations across the country.

Reduced numbers meant that most fire brigade staff were always on-call which affected their other work commitments and family life. This led to a lack of interest in recruitment and many people leaving the brigade. The new increased numbers mean more flexible rostering arrangements and better time off for all staff.

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There are no records to show the staffing levels in the early decades of the brigade in Clara, however it is believed that there was an average of 7 members until the early 70’s when the crew strength increased to 10 members. This remained in place until the mid 1990’s when numbers began to fall to such an extent that there was only an active crew of 4 in 2005 leading to the threatened closure of the fire station. Thankfully a local campaign to keep the station open, and subsequent recruitment campaign proved successful. However credit must be given to those 4 (Sean Taylor, Nigel Tobella, Martin Buckley and Brian Preston) who were always on-call and held the brigade together while new staff were recruited and trained.

Today Clara fire brigade is in a much better pace with recent improvements around the fire station and additional support vehicles. Plans for the much promised new fire station are understood to be moving forward. However, according to local station officer Philip Keegan, the main strength of any fire brigade lies in those on the frontline, the men and women who carry the pagers and respond to calls. “When staffing levels fall there is always a threat to safe working levels and therefore to the stations future” he said.

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S.O. Keegan added “While Clara station is fully staffed at present, vacancies will arise from time to time. Therefore it is vital that when these vacancies occur that local men and women apply”.

In addition to the developments in Clara, management of Offaly fire and rescue service have also overseen a number of large scale improvements across the county. There has been an increase in training, additional instructors and more community involvement at all 5 fire stations. New and upgraded vehicles have been introduced and a new training centre is being built adjacent to Tullamore fire station. Last year the fire service in Offaly attended almost 600 incidents.