Emergency call numbers

Kinds

Freiwillige fire-brigade

Youth fire-brigade

Occupation fire-brigade

Obligation fire-brigade

Operating fire-brigade

Werkfeuerwehr

German Federal Armed Forces fire-brigade

Airport fire-brigade

Statistics

Germany 1.383.730

Austria 247.227

Switzerland 125.000

South Tyrol 12.500

Luxembourg 9.000

Liechtenstein

(Conditions 2001)

Germany of 750,000 - 200,000 employments

(Conditions 2003)

Here you find generally valid information to the fire-brigade. Special information to certain fire-brigades finds you in the respective land sides.

The fire-brigade is to be carried out a relief organization, whose task is it, with accidents, inundations, conflagrations and similar events assistance, is called humans for saving animals and real values to protect and save. Major task is however saving, it has priority in relation to all other tasks!

Since in the last decades the number of the fires back-developed strongly, the fire-brigade takes over increasingly tasks, which go beyond the traditional fire fighting. The kind of the again taken over tasks and the structures of the fire-brigades are regionally very different.

Organization forms

A fire-brigade can be:

• a mechanism of the municipality (body of the public right).
• an operational mechanism (work and operating fire-brigade).
• a private enterprise, which notices the tasks of a fire-brigade on behalf the municipality or the enterprise (for example Falck in Denmark).
• a branch of service of the military

To the organization forms different from country to country see fire-brigade in Germany, in Latvia, in Austria, in Switzerland, in South Tyrol.

Dependent on the population structure and - are also the structures of the fire-brigade organizations seal. If there is e.g. in Germany, in Austria or in South Tyrol the freiwilligen fire-brigades, which cover the surface-moderately largest part of the fire protection, other countries set on base fire-brigades with full-time personnel. Switzerland knows the general fire-brigade obligation for men and women in many municipalities. In most countries also a fire and/or an disaster control exist by military structures. There are at the same time countries, in which several of these structures exist mixed or parallel.

Tasks

The tasks of the fire-brigade are regulated in the laws of each state. Common the summary of the tasks with the key words saving, deletion, mountains, contactors is internationally far.

In the following these tasks, which are fundamental for a majority of the fire-brigades, are described.

Save

Saves is the prevention of a mortal danger of humans by immediate measures (first assistance), those to the preservation or re-establishment of respiration, cycle or heart activity serves and/or releasing from a position of constraint by technical rescue measures. Fields of activity for this are e.g. fires, inundations or traffic accidents.

Delete

The deletion is the oldest task of the fire-brigade. With this repelling fire protection in such a way specified most different fires are fought with the help of the technical fire-brigade equipment.

In the course of the time however the number of the fire fightings decreased/went back world-wide. Due to the increasing task variety of the fire-brigade the technical assistance increases strongly and the fire-brigade develops for assistance organization.

Mountains

The fire-brigade can be responsible further for saving special goods, animals or dead humans, for example with flood, technical assistance like a pumping out of cellars, assistance with traffic accidents and tempests.

Contactors

To the preventing fire protection the supply of fire security guards with public meetings and control of fire-hydrants and unloading plants can belong. The preventing fire protection is an important mechanism, in order to avoid fires in the apron and to make the population attentive in the infancy on dangers and to point the correct behavior out in emergency situations. Thus fire protection education is accomplished in kindergartens and primary schools. Particularly in industrial nations to the operating fire protection ever more attentions is given, is it by own operational or also by public fire-brigades the fire-brigade in the context of official building permit procedures of larger building projects frequently is consulted beyond that and for statement asked (statement-ask).

In addition the fire-brigade can operate active environmental protection, like the containment of removal of oil-pure on roads and containment of chemical, biological and atomic dangers (see Danger property).

Also with the production of alarm plans or with different licensing procedures it can be necessary to consult the fire-brigade. Further the fire-brigade brings in its experience and improvement suggestions with the production of standards in different fields of activity.

Changes in delete tactics

An old prejudice reads: Which does not make the fire broken, the fire fighting water settles. In former times that may have had its authorization perhaps there and there. In the meantime the fire-brigades their function professionalisiert consistently. It must be paid attention with each kind by employments to the fact that the direct danger is not only gebannt, but that also the damages (fire fighting water causes among other things) by smoke and, which often substantially the primary damage exceed are as small as possible. Thus an employment works often substantially more than in former times, because no longer only the speed but also considered, sometimes appearing slower acting count. At that time it applied to delete the fire when fire in corroding as fast as possible, the quantity of the fire fighting water was insignificant thereby ("oceanic delete effect"). Today an external attack (unaimed pure syringe so-called "front laundry") is avoided after possibility, in order to avoid damages caused by water. By new and improved techniques like e.g. within the range of the respiratory protection and the jet pipe technology, means for a more efficient danger removal are to the fire-brigade at the disposal.

History

See major items: History of the fire-brigade, fire-brigades in the Roman one realm already the old Egyptians had the first organized fire-extinguishing units.

In the Roman realm towns with millions of inhabitants developed such as Rome. The houses were usually and stood very close together, also the lanes were very close. Often wooden on and porches at the houses were established. Some marks destroyed conflagrations whole quarters of Rome. In the year 21 v. Chr. a first fire-brigade with 600 slaves was created.

Already in the Middle Ages the municipalities were obligated to develop the fire protection. Thus to intervene first the guilds and guilds obligated to it in emergency. Since a great many buildings were often framework constructions from wood and within the Stadtmauern on closest area were established, major fires, with which whole boroughs burned down, came very often forwards.

Fire farmhands were embodied also for the first time in the fire-extinguishing regulations, so that of the first occupation fire-brigades can be spoken, like for example in Vienna 1685.

The fire-brigade-technical equipment was limited in the preindustrial time to simple aids such as buckets, leaders or einreisshaken. In 17. Century was invented the hose, which was made first from sewn leather; later the leather was riveted. Up to the beginning 20. Century still hand pumps, so-called fire syringes, were used which were pulled by horses or the delete crew to the employment place. With the invention of the combustion engine also the equipment of the fire-brigades improved substantially: Fire-engines and self-propelled fire-fighting vehicles increased the efficiency by a multiple.

In the USA became only in the middle 19. Century first, private-economically organized, occupation fire-brigades based. Only houses, which carried the plaque of such an enterprise, were partly deleted.

Articles in category "Fire-brigade"

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