Jump to content

Firefighting in Belgium

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Brentjee (talk | contribs) at 01:52, 27 April 2023 (→‎Fire zones). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

In Belgium, organized public fire services (Dutch: brandweer, French: service d'incendie, German: Feuerwehr) are available everywhere in the country. The responsibility to provide general firefighting and rescue services resides with 34 public authorities called 'fire zones', or literally translated 'emergency rescue zones' (Dutch: hulpverleningszone, French: zone de secours, German: Hilfeleistungszone). The Brussels Capital Region is protected by the Brussels Fire and Emergency Medical Service (Dutch: DBDMH, Dienst voor Brandbestrijding en Dringende Medische Hulp, French: SIAMU, Service d'Incendie et l'Aide Medicale Urgente), which has its own legal status. Together, the 34 fire zones and the Brussels Fire and Emergency Medical Service cover the entire Belgian territory.[1]

The fire zones and the Brussels Fire and Emergency Medical Service rely on about 17,000 firefighters in total, consisting of around 6,000 professional firefighters (35%) and 11,000 volunteers (65%), according to 2018 figures. Of these firefighters, about 5% are members of the higher cadre, i.e. officers, and 16% are members of the middle cadre, i.e. NCOs. Are very small minority of about 2% of all firefighters are women. Professional firefighters can be found mostly in larger towns and cities, whilst rural areas rely mostly or entirely on volunteers. The Brussels Fire and Emergency Medical Service and the Antwerp Fire Zone, responsible for the port city of Antwerp, are the only ones employing exclusively professional firefighters.[2] When it comes to the number of personnel, the Brussels Fire and Emergency Medical Service is the largest in Belgium with almost 1,200 firefighters as of 2020.[3]

History of fire services

Before the 2000s

The history of fire services in Belgium predates the foundation of the country, since local municipalities had been given the statutory authority and duty to prevent and repress fires in the late 18th century. Municipalities were entirely free in how they undertook this responsibility, and whether or not to maintain a fire service. This approach changed during the interwar period, when in the context of a new looming war the Belgian government in 1935 required every municipality either to establish their own fire service or either to contract with another municipality for fire service coverage. In the 1960s, this time in the context of the Cold War period, a new national legal framework was adopted related to the organization of municipal fire services and the Civil Protection units maintained by the national government. This new framework introduced a classification of municipalities with regards to the requirements placed on their fire services, new forms of optional and mandatory cooperation between these services, minimum standards concerning equipment and staffing, and subsidy mechanisms for purchasing equipment.[4]

Ghislenghien disaster

This framework for fire services organized on a municipal basis remained largely in place until the Ghislenghien gas explosion in 2004. This explosion took the lives of twenty-four people, including five firefighters. In the wake of the disaster, the organization of the fire services was deemed to be no longer suited for modern times and modern risks. In order to prepare a reform, a commission was created chaired by the then governor of the province of Antwerp Camille Paulus. This commission put forward three key points for the reform:[5]

  1. Citizens have the right to the fastest adequate assistance regardless of borders and jurisdictions;
  2. Every citizen has the right to the same basic protection against an equivalent financial contribution;
  3. Upscaling is necessary to achieve a more efficient use of resources and better handling of large incidents.

New civil security framework

These principles were incorporated in a new law on civil security, promulgated in 2007.[6] This law provided for the creation of new public bodies called emergency rescue zones (fire zones), which would each be composed of a number of municipalities by analogy to the police zones in Belgium. Notwithstanding some exceptions, they would be governed by a council formed by the mayors of each constituent municipality. Their funding would primarily come from contributions of each municipality and from grants from the Belgian federal government. Each municipality was required to become a part of a fire zone, regardless of whether they had their own fire service or not. The existing municipal fire services had to merge into these new zones. This major reform was only fully implemented by 1 January 2016, when the last new fire zones finally became active. The Brussels Fire and Emergency Medical Service was largely exempted from this reform, since it already enjoyed its own specific legal status as a public body managed by the Brussels regional government.[7][8]

Fire zones

Map of the Belgian fire zones.

As stated before, fire zones (officially 'emergency rescue zones') are public bodies composed of multiple constituent municipalities. Bar some exceptions, they are governed by a council in which the mayor of each municipality has a seat. Their funding comes primarily from their constituent municipalities and from the Belgian federal government. The fire zones each manage a network of fire stations, with assigned firefighters and fire apparatus, from which firefighting and rescue operations are carried out. The fire zones also have duties related to fire safety and fire prevention, and most zones take on a role in the provision of emergency medical services as well. On the operational level, each fire zone is headed by a zone commander. The fire zones differ from each other on several points, such as their size, the risks present in their jurisdiction, and whether they are a volunteer, combination or professional-only organisation. Below is a list of all of the 34 fire zones as well as the Brussels Fire and Emergency Medical Service:

Province or region Native name # stations[9] # municip.[10] Area[11] Population[12]

(2022-01-01)

sq mi km²
 Brussels DBDMH (Dutch) or SIAMU (French) 8 19 62.71 162.42 1,222,637
 Antwerp Brandweer Zone Antwerpen 8 3 89.75 232.44 560,117
 Antwerp Brandweerzone Rivierenland 15 18 219.70 569.03 430,901
 Antwerp Brandweer Zone Rand 20 21 275.91 714.61 424,365
 Antwerp Hulpverleningszone Taxandria 12 12 243.82 631.50 201,025
 Antwerp Brandweer Zone Kempen 7 15 281.29 728.53 270,201
 Flemish Brabant Hulpverleningszone Oost Vlaams-Brabant 8 32 476.34 1,233.71 546,949
 Flemish Brabant Brandweerzone Vlaams-Brabant West 9 33 341.56 884.64 626,491
 Walloon Brabant Zone de Secours du Brabant wallon 5 27 423.63 1,097.20 409,782
 East Flanders Brandweerzone Vlaamse Ardennen 8 12 204.24 528.98 175,619
 East Flanders Brandweerzone Centrum 14 18 359.49 931.08 567,287
 East Flanders Brandweerzone Oost 7 7 111.87 289.75 185,259
 East Flanders Hulpverleningszone Zuid-Oost 9 11 177.46 459.63 299,616
 East Flanders Hulpverleningszone Waasland 9 7 171.25 443.53 227,081
 East Flanders Hulpverleningszone Meetjesland 4 5 136.72 354.101 89,003
 Hainaut Zone de secours Hainaut Centre 11 28 528.04 1,367.63 556,543
 Hainaut Zone de Secours Hainaut-Est 6 22 479.84 1,242.77 474,436
 Hainaut Zone de Secours de Wallonie Picarde 7 19 464.26 1,202.43 320,148
 Liège Zone de secours Hesbaye 2 13 150.61 390.07 76,663
 Liège Zone de Secours HEMECO 2 15 231.30 599.08 106,423
 Liège Liège Zone 2 IILE-SRI 7 21 227.94 590.36 565,529
 Liège Zone de secours 5 Warche-Amblève-Lienne 4 7 244.28 632.69 49,468
 Liège Zone de Secours Vesdre-Hoëgne & Plateau 9 19 308.41 798.79 234,302
 Liège Hilfeleistungszone DG 7 9 326.70 846.14 78,604
 Limburg Brandweerzone Oost-Limburg 8 14 341.64 884.83 324,729
 Limburg Hulpverleningszone Noord-Limburg 4 9 221.38 573.36 168,701
 Limburg Hulpverleningszone Zuid-West Limburg 8 19 374.22 969.24 392,521
 Luxembourg Zone de Secours Luxembourg 17 44 1,721.73 4,459.25 291,143
Namur Zone de Secours DINAPHI 12 22 968.01 2,507.12 178,975
Namur Zone de secours NAGE 4 10 320.93 831.20 232,709
Namur Zone de secours Val de Sambre 3 6 129.92 336.50 87,770
 West Flanders Hulpverleningszone Zone 1 11 17 377.55 977.86 441,554
 West Flanders Brandweer Westhoek 22 18 466.00 1,206.93 220,785
 West Flanders Hulpverleningszone Fluvia 16 14 174.86 452.89 315,636
 West Flanders Brandweerzone Midwest 17 15 215.80 558.91 231,036

Duties

One of the first measures of the reformation put into action was the SAH (Snelste Adequate Hulpverlening), meaning that, regardless of territorial boundaries, the fire department who can arrive at the scene the fastest with the most adequate equipment (one driver, one petty officer and four fire fighters) will be the first one to turn out and handle the call until the department who has jurisdiction arrives.

Emergency medical services

See also: Healthcare in Belgium

Almost all EMS interventions in Belgium are carried out by fire departments, more specifically fire fighters who have successfully completed their EMS formation. In some departments fire fighters are obligated to take the EMS formation or even get a permit to drive a truck.

Personnel

Training

After the gas explosion of Ghislenghien in 2004, Belgian fire fighter academies have begun adapting newer techniques, such as the Swedish techniques for structural firefighting or USA's RIT-procedure (Rapid Intervention Team).

Ranks

The fire zones employ a rank structure for their personnel which mirrors the Belgian military ranks, and is laid down by a Royal Order.[13]

Rank structure as of 2015

Officers (Higher cadre) NCOs (Middle cadre) Enlisted (Basic cadre)
Insignia
French Colonel Major Capitaine Lieutenant Adjudant Sergent Caporal Sapeur
Dutch Kolonel Majoor Kapitein Luitenant Adjudant Sergeant Korporaal Brandweerman

Obsolete ranks

Officers (Higher cadre) NCOs (Middle cadre)
Insignia
French Lieutenant-colonel Capitaine-commandant Sous-lieutenant Adjudant-chef Sergent-major Premier Sergent
Dutch Luitenant-Kolonel Kapitein-Commandant Onder-luitenant Opperadjudant Sergeant-majoor Eerste sergeant

Officer promotion controversy

When the Belgian civil security reform came into force in 2014, all firefighter officers were automatically promoted to a higher rank, whether they held the appropriate certificate or not.[14] This led to numerous disputes and was the subject of one of the demands announced during the demonstrations by Belgian firefighters before and after the reform,[15] non-commissioned officers and men in the ranks feeling aggrieved,[16] because no similar measure was planned for them.

References

  1. ^ "What do the fire departments do?". Directorate-General Civil Security. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Brandweerpersoneel in België" [Fire personnel in Belgium] (PDF). Directorate-General Civil Security (in Dutch). 27 April 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  3. ^ "DBDMH – Samenvatting van getuigenissen" [DBDMH – Summary of testimonies] (PDF). Unia (in Dutch). June 2021. p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  4. ^ Vandeplas, Armand (27 September 1980). "Preventie van brand en ontploffing, objectieve aansprakelijkheid en verplichte aansprakelijkheidsverzekering" [Prevention of fire and explosion, objective liability and compulsory civil liability insurance]. Rechtskundig Weekblad. 44th Vol. № 4 (in Dutch). pp. 217–219. Retrieved 18 April 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ "De brandweerhervorming: van gemeentelijke brandweer naar hulpverleningszones" [The fire services reform: from municipal fire services to emergency rescue zones]. Vereniging van Vlaamse Steden en Gemeenten (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Wet van 15 mei 2007 betreffende de civiele veiligheid" [Law of 15 May 2007 regarding the civil security]. Directorate-General Civil Security (in Dutch). Retrieved 20 April 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ "De brandweer vandaag" [The fire services today]. Vereniging van Vlaamse Steden en Gemeenten (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  8. ^ "Reform". Directorate-General Civil Security. Archived from the original on 25 June 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  9. ^ "Hulpverleningsposten - Postes des zones de secours" [Emergency rescue stations] (PDF). Directorate-General Civil Security (in Dutch and French). 7 April 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 April 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  10. ^ "Contactgegevens van de hulpverleningszones - Données de contact des zones de secours" [Contact information of the emergency rescue zones] (PDF). Directorate-General Civil Security (in Dutch and French). 2 March 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 April 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  11. ^ "Bodembezetting volgens het Kadaster (oppervlakte per gemeente)" [Land use according to the Cadastre (area per municipality)]. Statistics Belgium (in Dutch). 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "Bevolking per gemeente op 1 januari (1992-2022)" [Population per municipality on 1 January (1992-2022)]. Statistics Belgium (in Dutch). Retrieved 26 April 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ "Arrêté royal du 19 avril 2014 relatif au statut administratif du personnel opérationnel des zones de secours" [Royal Decree of 19 April 2014 on the administrative status of operational personnel in the emergency rescue zones]. Directorate-General Civil Security (in French). Retrieved 20 April 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ Oppens, Xavier Van (13 December 2013). "Manifestation des pompiers: accalmie après un face-à-face tendu avec la police" [Firefighters' demonstration: lull after a tense face-to-face with the police]. RTBF.be (in French).
  15. ^ Boulanger, Sonia (18 June 2016). "Les pompiers manifestent à Namur: "Pour nos droits mais aussi ceux du citoyen"" [Firefighters demonstrate in Namur: "For our rights but also those of the citizen"]. RTBF.be (in French).
  16. ^ "Lettre ouverte d'un pompier au Colonel Gilbert" [Open letter from a firefighter to Colonel Gilbert]. pétitionenligne.be (in French).


Stub icon

This Belgium-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Firefighting_in_Belgium&oldid=1151918864"