Mayo County Fire Service serves one of the largest fire authority areas in the country. As fire-fighters, we deal with, on average between 1300 and 1500 responses annually ranging from chimney fires, house fires, bog/forest fires, road traffic accidents, rescues, chemical spills and flooding. The Council also promotes fire safety awareness in the community by means of meetings, seminars, school visits and various targeted information campaigns. This effort is particularly intense during National Fire Prevention week each October. All fire-fighters undergo a comprehensive training programme. This programme includes inter alia, the latest advances in techniques and tactics for dealing with fire where backdraft or flashover can occur, and also the latest methods used for the extraction of casualties from vehicles involved in Road Traffic Accidents.