FIRE OFFICERS WILL hear about the experiences of a Hurricane Katrina disaster recovery expert during a conference tomorrow.

The Chief Fire Officers AGM will take place tomorrow in Naas and will see Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan joining academics, industry experts and government and local government officials to find out what’s on fire officers’ agenda.

Issues

The event is also the annual showcase for Ireland’s fire and emergency services sector.

Seamus Murphy, CFOA chairperson and Mayo Chief Fire Officer, said that the conference is a chance for all involved in the area to debate current issues and the latest developments.

Celina Barrett, Kildare Chief Fire Officer, is also the conference secretary.

She said:

The sector which has had to adapt and be competent to meet current and future challenges against a background of budget and service constraints, changing personnel demography, greater scrutiny and wider demands on the service it delivers to the community.

Hurricane Katrina

Barrett said that one of the speakers is Professor Daniel Boatright, senior associate dean at University of Oklahoma in the USA, who will speak about Hurricane Katrina.

“He worked on evacuation centres for Hurricane Katrina,” explained Barrett. “He will speak about coordinating shelter management function. We are trying to learn from his experience on the whole psychological side of disaster management as well.”

They will also hear from representatives from the Estonian and UK fire services about the parallels between their countries and Ireland. Other experts will talk about how people are mobilised to respond to fires, how 999 calls are taken and responded to, and how mobile phone data can help locate people faster.

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