Firefighters can»t respond on time due to housing prices, CGDIS hiring new workers
By 2025, firefighters and rescue workers in Luxembourg will arrive at the scene of an accident no more than 15 minutes after a call. This was announced by the Minister of the Interior Taina Bofferding. And then she explained why so far it is difficult for such a quick response to happen. Oddly enough, the housing prices in the country present one of the main obstacles.
The Grand Duchy Fire and Rescue Corps (CGDIS) began operating in 2018. It employs both professionals and volunteers. Every member of the corps is ready to work at least 100 hours a year. Volunteers comprise most of CGDIS. For example, in the commune of Mamer, there are 16 permanent employees, and 65 more people are volunteers.
But that’s still not enough to respond to every call in time. After all, the number or emergencies has more than doubled since 2018. Accordingly, there should also be more emergency workers. Luxembourg plans to hire and train 300 new firefighters and rescuers by 2025. 80% of them will be volunteers.
The minister also said that firefighters often cannot respond in time due to expensive housing. Prices for houses and apartments in the Grand Duchy are rising. Many residents of the country, including CGDIS employees, are forced to move further away from large cities and centers of activity. Otherwise, it will be difficult for them to even make ends meet.
And when emergency workers live far from the main sources of incidents, then it becomes more and more difficult for them to arrive on time.
Additional funding will help correct the situation. Taina Bofferding said CGDIS’s current annual budget of 150 million euros needs to be expanded. This will open new vacancies, speed up recruitment and training. Above all, it will improve the financial situation of employees. Firefighters and rescuers will be able to live closer to potential hotspots.
You can become a CGDIS professional or a volunteer simply by applying on the emergency services website.
The number of fires in Luxembourg is really high. This summer the forests and fields of the Grand Duchy have already become victims of fires. Moreover, this happened repeatedly in different regions of the country.
