The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) is the statutory fire and rescue service for Northern Ireland. The NIFRS is overseen by the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Board, which in turn is subordinate to the Department of Health.
NIFRS covers Northern Ireland, an area of over with a population of 1.9 million people. Service Headquarters is located in Lisburn, County Antrim. As of 2012, the workforce of NIFRS was around 2,230 personnel.
Since 2023, Aidan Jennings is the Chief Fire & Rescue Officer.
History Organised firefighting began in what is now Northern Ireland in the 19th century. In 1800, the Belfast Borough Police were established and firefighting was one of their duties. The firefighting units were later separated from the police to form the Belfast Fire Brigade.
Until World War II, towns had their own fire services. In 1942, Northern Ireland's fire services were amalgamated into one, though they were separate from the National Fire Service that covered the rest of the United Kingdom.Bangor Fire Brigade: A Brief History After the war, the service was split into the re-established Belfast Fire Brigade and the Northern Ireland Fire Authority, which covered the rest of Northern Ireland.
On 1 October 1973, the two fire services were merged into a single service, named Northern Ireland Fire Brigade. In 2006, the service adopted its current name of Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.
Fire stations
NIFRS has 67 fire stations split into four geographical command areas. Eastern area: 8 fire stations serving 494,000 people over an area of . It is headquartered in Belfast, with a north & west district headquarters at Whitla fire station, and a south & east district headquarters at Knock fire station. Northern area: 19 fire stations serving 426,000 people over an area of . It is headquartered in Ballymena, with district headquarters at Ballymena, Coleraine, and Glengormley. Southern area: 22 fire stations serving 564,000 people over an area of . It is headquartered in Portadown, with district headquarters in Bangor, Newcastle, Newry, and Portadown. Western area: 18 fire stations serving 417,000 people over an area of . It is headquartered in Derry, with district headquarters in Cookstown, Enniskillen, Derry, and Omagh.
Statistics
In 2016/17, NIFRS received 36,069 emergency calls, an increase of 7.9% on the previous year. Of these calls a total of 23,740 were mobilised.
List of Chief Fire Officers , Aidan Jennings is the chief fire officer of NIFRS. He succeeds Interim Chief Fire & Rescue Officer Andy Hearn.
1973: The Belfast Fire Brigade amalgamated with the Northern Ireland Fire Authority to become the Northern Ireland Fire Brigade.
19731982: George Morrison 19821984: Clive Halliday 19851988: William Beggs 19881995: Kenneth McNeill 19951996: Stephen Walker 19962002: John McClelland from 2003: Colin Lammey 2006: Northern Ireland Fire Brigade name changes to, Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service. 20102012: Peter Craig 20122015: Chris Kerr 20152016: Dale Ashford (interim) 20162020: Gary Thompson 20202021: Michael Graham (interim) 20212022: Peter O'Reilly 20222023: Andy Hearn (interim) 2023present: Aidan Jennings
See also Fire service in the United Kingdom Firefighters List of fire departments List of British firefighters killed in the line of duty List of Government departments and agencies in Northern Ireland History of the Belfast Fire Brigade
References
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