Airport emergency services celebrate 75th anniversary  

PRESIDENT Michael D Higgins visited Dublin Airport’s Fire Station to commemorate the 75th anniversary of its emergency services.

The President spoke at a ceremony to mark the milestone and presented a specially commissioned medal to the airport’s 120 fire officers.

During his address President Higgins spoke about the crucial and specialised role of the airport’s fire service, the continuous rigorous training required and the constant need to be on standby should an incident occur. 

 “It was a tremendous honour to welcome President Higgins to the 75th anniversary,” said daa chief executive Dalton Philips. 

“daa is proud of the central role that Dublin Airport plays in the national economy and without its fire service, the airport simply could not operate.

Dublin Airport’s Chief Fire Officer, Gerry Keogh, said: “Our service has grown from very humble beginnings 75 years ago when we had about 15,000 aircraft movements and less than 100,000 passengers to 224,000 aircraft movements and almost 30 million passengers in 2017.” 

Dublin Airport’s own emergency service was established in the mid-1940s with a part-time fire chief and two assistants – a carpenter and a storeman – who were presented with a fireman’s belt, an axe and military helmet. 

Today, Dublin Airport fire officers are highly trained and specialise in fire-fighting skills required for a full-scale aircraft emergency. 

Airport fire officers work full-time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, including Christmas Day, even though there are no flight operations that day.

Key tasks for the fire officers include the protection of life and buildings, attending to aircraft incidents, fire alarm activations on the airport’s campus, attending accidents and medical emergencies, fuel spillages, wildlife management on the airfield, runway inspections and runway braking action assessments during winter operations.

Mr Keogh added: “We take immense pride in protecting our customers, colleagues and buildings. 

“Not only are we airport fire officers, we are also trained instructors and 25 of our fire officers are fully trained paramedics. 

“We are constantly on standby and prepared for the day that we hope never comes.”