Fire Service

Mr. John D. Taylor
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]

Mr. Moss
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:
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|                                                             |
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|Major Fires (eg, property or car fires)                      |
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|Secondary Fires (eg rubbish or derelict property fires)      |
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|Chimney fires                                                |
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|False Alarm Calls                                            |
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|Special Service Calls (eg, road traffic accidents or rescues)|
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Mr. Taylor
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]

Mr. Moss
The number of turn-outs to 30 September are as follows: -----------------
|               |
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|Tandragee      |
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|Richhill       |
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|Markethill     |
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|Newtownhamilton|
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|Middletown     |
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|Bessbrook      |
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|Hamiltonsbawn  |
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|Keady          |
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The figures for Newtownhamilton and Keady relate to calls attended within the station areas, as opposed to specifically within the town.