The Loire-Atlantique departmental fire and rescue service (Sdis) announced Tuesday evening the creation of 67 professional firefighter positions by 2030 in the department in order to “respond to the increase in requests for emergency assistance by population growth. This recruitment, facilitated by an increase of 3.5 million euros in the annual contribution to Sdis (65 million euros in total) voted by the Loire-Atlantique departmental councilintervenes in a tense context with professional firefighters.
For several months, they have been denouncing a deterioration in their working conditions and insufficient staffing to respond to the growth in the number of interventions. These are, moreover, increasingly often accompanied by violence. The demonstrators, who gathered noisily in front of the department’s headquarters Tuesday morning, are demanding a salary increase and the creation of around a hundred positions.
The account is not there yet. Sdis says it cannot do better without help from the government. “If the State agrees to review the financing arrangements for Sdis, the chairman of the board of directors will propose increasing the number of net creations of professional firefighter positions from 67 to 100,” indicates management.
A reorganization of the guards
In this context, Sdis 44 also announced a reorganization of the daytime duty system: “The firefighters on duty in the Nantes metropolitan area will increase from 91 to 102 and the emergency centers in Clisson, Savenay and Pontchâteau will gradually increase from one on-call system to a guard system, to guarantee immediate departure of emergency vehicles,” indicates the Sdis. Staff numbers will, conversely, be slightly reduced at night and on weekends, with requests for assistance being “less numerous”. A reduction which worries certain barracks, in particular in Nantes-Gouzé.
The Sdis also announces that the twenty-four hour shifts will be gradually reduced to twelve hours for ambulance crews in the towns of Nantes and Saint-Nazaire. Requests for non-urgent interventions will also be systematically invoiced.
The Loire-Atlantique firefighters carry out nearly 80,000 interventions per year, the majority concerning the rescue of people. Sdis 44, which brings together 92 fire and rescue centers, employs 3,900 volunteer firefighters, 800 professional firefighters and 350 administrative and technical staff.