By Eugene Gerden

The French firefighting sector will be a subject of major reforms in years to come with the aim to increase its efficiency and to ensure better protection of rights of local firefighters.

While firefighting remains one of oldest and prestigious professions in France in recent years its popularity has substantially declined, which became mainly due to insufficient funding  of the sector by the state and the ever growing public pressure on local firefighters.

According to recent statements, made by some leading representatives of French firefighting community the volume of pressure on firefighters in France is steadily growing these days, which is also due to poor organization of firefighting service in the country and its numerous weaknesses.

Despite the considerable efforts made by the French government  in the field of  domestic firefighting in recent years, its capacity to support the Service in the face of new risks has reached a critical point. According to local analysts, without new resources quickly available, the French Firefighting Service is moving towards a serious crisis.

“The first thing is to redefine the mission field” of firefighters in France», says Jean-Paul Bosland, president of the National Federation of Firefighters of France (FNSPF). “We are taking the full brunt of medical desertification” , without forgetting “the consequences of climate change” – forest fires, floods, etc. -adds Bosland, who has been warning “for several months about the problem of permanent operational increase” and the ever growing pressure on firefighters in France.

“There is an abusive use of firefighters who become the fifth wheel in social matters or in terms of interventions that are not urgent ,” adds Olivier Richefou, president of the national conference of fire and rescue services (CNSIS).

At present fires themselves account for only 5% of calls to French Firefighting  Service, which leads to inefficient operations of the entire system. In addition to natural disasters, firefighters are also subject to increasing daily operational pressure, particularly in personal assistance missions, which now represent 80% of their responses.

“We are facing fundamental problems that have been going on for years,” adds Anthony Chauveau, president of the SPASDIS-CFTC firefighters’ union.

Historically the French firefighting model based on volunteering, although in recent years it has become a subject of criticism of European regulators, which call on the reforms of the entire sector.

According to data of the French General Directorate for Civil Security and Crisis Management (DGSCGC), France has 252,700 firefighters distributed as follows:

• 41,800 professional firefighters
• 197,100 volunteer firefighters
• 13,200 soldiers

In fact, the number of young firefighters in France has jumped by 50% in 20 years. In 2022, some 29,000 young people aged 11 to 18 train each week. Still, in recent years the situation has changed, while the image of the profession began to decline.

One of  the reasons of this is the outdated legislative base, which regulates the firefighting sector of France, as two industry’s major legislative acts (the law on the departmentalization of fire and rescue services and the law on the modernization of civil security) were adopted as far back as 30 and 20 years ago being in acute need of revision.

According to industry’s representatives, the working conditions of firefighters in France have significantly deteriorated since that time due  to global warming, poor remuneration and other factors.

In terms of funding, most of local analysts are unhappy with the existing system of funding of French Firefighting Service, which is funded 90% by the departments and municipalities and only 10% by the State (in particular through the tax on insurance agreements (TSCA)) these days. That creates serious problems for ensuring good equipage of French firefighters, which varies enormously depending on the region.

The existing  problems of the industry poses a threat for implementation of earlier announced state plans for an increase in the number of volunteer firefighters in France to 250,000 and to 45,000 in case of professional firefighters.

In the meantime, the French government is aware of the existing problems, taking some steps for their solution. According to French Liberation business paper, one of the latest decisions became the increase of various allowances and bonuses paid to volunteer firefighters by nearly 80 million euros over three years. In addition, the government has also plans to support the project to raise the age limit [for volunteer firefighters] from 65 to 67 years. The draft decree is currently being examined by the Council of State”.

An official spokesman of French government comments:

“Encouraging volunteering firefighting is crucial to maintaining our territorial network.”

The French government plans to continue to consider volunteering firefighting as the main concept for organization and functioning of the domestic firefighting service despite the earlier concerns of The Council of Europe,  which believes that volunteers must be considered as “workers” and that they are currently victims of discriminatory treatment in terms of pay and working hours. Also the EU officials have serious questions about the involvement of young firefighters in firefighting operations in France.