To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the fire service in Keady was upgraded from being an auxiliary fire unit to become a retained unit; how many call-outs the fire service in Keady had in the last full year prior to it ceasing to be an auxiliary fire unit; how many call-outs the retained unit in Keady had in the calendar year of 1994; and if he will make a statement about the number of fires in the Keady area. [37551]

In 1952, the then Northern Ireland fire authority established a volunteer fire party in Keady which shortly afterwards was changed to an auxiliary fire service unit. The auxiliary fire service was disbanded nationally in 1967, but following a review of fire cover, a retained fire crew was established in Keady in November 1971.Due to the length of time involved it has not been possible to establish the number of call-outs attended by personnel in Keady prior to Keady being upgraded to retained status.In the calendar year 1994, Keady station dealt with 144 calls, made up as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many fire call-outs the fire service has had this year to the districts of Tandragee, Richhill, Markethill, Newtownhamilton, Middletown, Bessbrook, Hamiltonsbawn and Keady. [37550]

The number of turn-outs to 30 September are as follows: