Status: 09/11/2022 3:14 p.m
Floods, Forest fires and an increasing number of rescue operations: In many places, fire brigades are reaching their breaking point. However, the biggest problem in some municipalities is the lack of staff.
Not only have fires and technical assistance become more frequent over the past twenty years, the number of rescue operations in particular has grown from around 1.5 million to around 2.6 million nationwide. In more than half of all German cities, the fire brigade is responsible for the rescue service. Firefighters, who work 24-hour shifts almost everywhere, are usually also paramedics or paramedics.
Blue light operations can last longer than an hour at a time. This costs staff, energy and time. In some cases, the rest times could not be observed, according to insiders. The German fire brigade union (DFeuG) estimates that nationwide there is a shortage of 5,000 – 10,000 firefighters to deal with the growing number of tasks. The DFeuG is therefore currently preparing the campaign “Save the rescue service!” before.
Berlin fire brigade particularly affected
According to the union, Berlin is hardest hit by the staff shortage. According to their estimate, there are at least 600 firefighters too few in the federal capital. So-called states of emergency are occurring more and more frequently, in which an emergency vehicle is no longer available for minutes.
Some patients would be transported to the hospital with fire engines. A Berlin firefighter who wishes to remain anonymous says opposite Plus minus: “Everywhere people try to get the most out of the least means, so really continue on a low budget, and I don’t know what else has to happen for them to understand that. But if you say it harshly: people have to keep dying.”
Situation varies in the different states
The research of Plus minus. Even in one and the same federal state, such as North Rhine-Westphalia, there are major differences in staffing levels.
According to an expert report, the fire brigade of the city of Essen is missing more than 120 emergency services. In the North Rhine-Westphalian state capital of Düsseldorf, around 30 kilometers from Essen, the target number of 823 employees has been met, and 170 junior staff are even being trained, the press office of the city of Düsseldorf replies to an inquiry.
More volunteers than professional firefighters
The system of public fire brigades is essentially based on two pillars: on the one hand, the professional fire brigade with civil servants in the municipalities with around 35,000 firefighters nationwide, and on the other hand the volunteer fire brigades with around 1,004,000 volunteers. Although the number of professionals has increased by around 9,000 over the past twenty years, there used to be around 66,000 more volunteer firefighters. According to the fire brigade union, the supposed “more” of professional firefighters is due to start-ups and more part-time jobs.
The figures are based on information from the German Fire Brigade Association and date from 2019. The statistics for 2020 will not be published until November 2022. There are no statistical “target strengths” for volunteer firefighters.
Associations call for more involvement at the federal level
Fire brigade associations cannot understand why the fire brigades are not permanent members of the recently founded “Joint Competence Center for Civil Protection” at the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance.
Dirk Aschenbrenner, President of the Association for the Promotion of German Fire Protection and head of the Dortmund fire brigade, is also surprised at the cuts in spending on civil protection and for the Technical Relief Organization planned by the federal government for 2023. On the contrary, says Aschenbrenner, more should be invested in state crisis management.