Latest news with #NIFRS
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Firefighters tackling blaze at former school site
Almost 50 firefighters are dealing with a fire at a former school site in County Londonderry. The Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) said they received a call at 04:52 BST on Saturday to attend the blaze at the former Faughan Valley school in Drumahoe. Forty-five firefighters are in attendance, with six pumping appliances and one aerial appliance. The Drumahoe Road is currently closed at the junctions with the Glenshane Road and the Fincairn Road due to the fire at the derelict premises. The Police Service of Northern Ireland are advising local residents to keep windows closed at this time.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Firefighters tackling blaze at former school site
Almost 50 firefighters are dealing with a fire at a former school site in County Londonderry. The Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) said they received a call at 04:52 BST on Saturday to attend the blaze at the former Faughan Valley school in Drumahoe. Forty-five firefighters are in attendance, with six pumping appliances and one aerial appliance. The Drumahoe Road is currently closed at the junctions with the Glenshane Road and the Fincairn Road due to the fire at the derelict premises. The Police Service of Northern Ireland are advising local residents to keep windows closed at this time.
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Drumahoe: Firefighters tackling blaze at former school site
Almost 50 firefighters are dealing with a fire at a former school site in County Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) said they received a call at 04:52 BST on Saturday to attend the blaze at the former Faughan Valley school in firefighters are in attendance, with six pumping appliances and one aerial Drumahoe Road is currently closed at the junctions with the Glenshane Road and the Fincairn Road due to the fire at the derelict premises. The Police Service of Northern Ireland are advising local residents to keep windows closed at this time.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
New fire service training centre opens in Cookstown
A long-delayed state-of-the-art training college for the fire service in Northern Ireland is to officially open at a ceremony on facility just outside Cookstown was first announced more than 20 years initial plan was for a larger training college that included the police and prison in 2015 plans for the college were radically redrawn and in 2021 planning permission was granted for a £42m facility that catered for the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) only. Both the prison service and the police were instead given extra money for training and to refurbish existing facilities. 'Tactical firefighting facility' The Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service Learning & Development College (LDC) at Desertcreat includes a flood water rescue facility, a call-out village, a training warehouse, a barn and slurry pit and a tactical firefighting facility. An official opening ceremony for the college is taking place on Wednesday includes firefighter demonstrations at various locations across the say the facilities will enable firefighters to simulate real-life training scenarios and provide a "safe, controlled and repeatable environment for high-quality, practical training".The site was granted planning approval by Mid Ulster District Council in represented the largest capital investment in NIFRS' history. Delays Proposals for the site at Desertcreat have been dogged by problems since the Policing Board announced in February 2004 that a £80m police training college for Northern Ireland would be built planning permission was granted in 2005 for a state-of-the art college, it was later reported the same year that the new academy would cost £50m more than expected and would not be completed until February 2007, the government announced it planned to provide all the funding for a new joint police, fire and prison service college at the 210-acre permission was granted for the training centre in 2013, but in November 2014 a steering group overseeing the development said the project should not scheme was subsequently scrapped and it later emerged that Northern Ireland had lost £53m of public money that had been earmarked for the joint training college, with a Stormont committee being told the Treasury had withdrawn the for the college were radically was announced the fire and rescue service would get a £44m purpose-built complex at Desertcreat, while the PSNI would be given about £20m to refurbish its existing training facilities in east prison service instead received funding for training at Maghaberry and Magilligan prisons.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Belfast summer concerts in doubt over 'safety arrangements' dispute
Major gigs by the likes of Sam Fender and Fontaines DC in Belfast this summer could be in doubt due to a disagreement over "health and safety arrangements". Music events at the council-owned Boucher Road Playing Fields previously used a neighbouring site, held by the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS), as an emergency exit point. But this time the fire service has not given Belfast City Council (BCC) consent to use the site, BBC News NI understands. The NIFRS and council said they were "engaging" in a bid to resolve the issue and ensure "the necessary health and safety arrangements can be put in place". The playing fields regularly hosts major gigs with audiences of about 40,000 people. Several big concerts are planned for this summer including Sam Fender, Fontaines DC supported by Kneecap and the two-day Farmer's Bash festival. A site beside the playing fields - a former NIFRS training centre - has been used in previous years as an access and exit route. The land is owned by the council and leased to the fire service. It vacated the site last year after opening a new training facility outside Cookstown, County Tyrone. The disagreement over access to the Belfast site centres on safety and security matters. It is also understood the fire service has questioned whether using the site would impact on a rates discount for unoccupied properties. In a statement, a spokeswoman for the NIFRS said the site was "currently going through a process of divestment". "NIFRS has vacated the site and would be supportive of an agreement that would see the lease revert to Belfast City Council control, enabling the necessary health and safety arrangements to be put in place for the summer shows," she added. "NIFRS continues to engage with Belfast City Council and other stakeholders, around the divestment process and the events scheduled at Boucher Playing Fields." A council spokeswoman said: "The council has been engaging with NIFRS with a view to ensuring that the necessary health and safety arrangements can be put in place for these concerts. "This includes access through the NIFRS site for emergency exit purposes." As part of efforts to resolve matters, it is understood the council also approached Stormont's Department of Health, which oversees the NIFRS. A health department spokeswoman said: "This is an issue for NIFRS and its board." MCD Productions, which is planning some of the concerts at the playing fields this summer, was also approached for comment. K.A.D - The Belfast DJ living her festival dream A guide to Belfast's big night with the Boss
