The two part-time firefighters who lost their lives fighting a blaze in a disused and unoccupied building in Bray on Wednesday displayed great heroism under immense pressure as they fought to bring the fire under control.
A primary concern of Brian Murray and Mark O'Shaughnessy was to stop the fire spreading to other buildings, thereby putting other lives at risk. They succeeded. But, in ensuring the safety of others through their selfless act of bravery, they paid with their own lives. The nation salutes their heroic sacrifice, and shares the grief of their families as they mourn a great personal loss.
Every year, on average, some 50 people die in fire accidents. But the last time a fireman died in the line of duty was 70 years ago. Then, three fire officers were killed in a major blaze in Pearse Street in Dublin. Fortunately, the death of a firefighter has become a rare occurrence. Nevertheless, this week's double tragedy highlights the risks that firefighters run in their daily work.
In the aftermath of the Bray tragedy, all the obvious questions will be raised in the search for answers to explain the loss of life, and to ensure such fatalities are less likely in future. The fire services in Ireland are managed at local authority level, with the Department of the Environment playing an advisory, legislative and policy-making role in their overall operation. The 37 fire authorities, which run 222 fire stations, are made up of full-time professional firefighters in the cities and larger urban areas. Retained, or part-time, firefighters, operate throughout the rest of the country. The retained fire fighter has to balance two difficult roles: combining a full time job while working for a part-time fire service, which involves being on call and available for fire-fighting duties at any time.
The advantages of a full time professional fire service are clear. The faster turnout time for calls may well ensure that a fire is checked before it blazes out of control. But the cost of a full time service is difficult to justify, if the population size of the area covered is too small. Have we struck the right balance between full and part-time fire services? Five years ago, a consultancy report on fire services in Ireland recommended the establishment of a National Fire Authority; a recommendation the Government has chosen to ignore. Likewise, a recent feasibility study on a "Full time Fire Service for Bray" by Wicklow's chief fire officer, James Dunphy, deserves greater scrutiny now.