Fire services in France

French civilian firemen.
French fire engine.
French Fire brigade Citroën Berlingo in Les Sables-dOlonne

The fire service in France is known as Sapeurs-pompiers, except in Marseille, where naval "sailor-firefighters", marins-pompiers, provide fire and rescue services.

There are two categories:

There are approximately 250,584 fire service personnel in France operating 15,000 emergency vehicles out of 10,238 emergency centres.

Pompier (firefighter) etymologically comes from the concept of pumping (water) and refers to the manual pumps that were originally used. Sapeur means "sapper" and refers to the first official firefighting unit created by Napoleon I which was part of the military engineering arm.

Categories

As of 1 January 2012, there were 248 300 sapeurs-pompiers in France:[1]

Women comprised 12% of the civil sapeurs-pompiers.

The service de santé and of effectives.

The administrative personnel, technicians and specialists numbered 10,900.

The jeunes sapeurs-pompiers (Junior fighters) and cadets numbered 27,800.

There are also few (328) civil volunteer firefighters (sapeurs-pompiers volontaires civils). The civil volunteers status was created in 2000 when the conscription was abolished. It is a national service, i.e. full-time job for 6 months to 2 years, but with a reduced pay.

Organization

Headquarters are located in:

Sous-direction des Sapeur-Pompiers
87-95 quai du docteur Dervanx
92600 Asnieres-Sur-Seine

Local organization is based in the various Departmental Fire and Rescue Services (Services Departmentaux d'Incendie et de Secours (SDIS)).

Personnel and rank insignia

Personnel strength of the French Fire Services 2015
Category Status Number
of fire fighters
and paramedics
Civilian fire services professionals 40,354
Civilian fire services volunteers 168,727
Volunteer fire brigades [lower-alpha 1] volunteers 13,631
Fire Services EMS professionals
volunteers
11,910
Military fire services [lower-alpha 2] military 11,752
Military fire services EMS military 173
  1. Not integrated into the fire services.
  2. Including the Emergency Preparedness
    and Response Units from the
    French Combat engineering corps
Source:[2]

Civilian professional fire fighters are local government civil servants of class A, B, and C. Civil servants class A and B, and their volunteer counterparts, are trained at the National Fire College, École nationale supérieure des officiers de sapeurs-pompiers.[3] Given their military origin, rank insignia follow those of the French Army.

Class C

Professional fire fighters class C, are recruited from volunteer fire fighters or youth fire fighters, age 18 or above, with three years service, and passed middle school; employment as Sapper 2nd class without, and as Sapper 1st class with, a civil service exam.[4] Promotion to Corporal can occur after three years as Sapper 1st class; to Chief Corporal after six years as Corporal.[5] Crew commanders are selected through a civil service exam open to team leaders.[6] Promotion to Adjutant can occur after six years as Sergeant/Chief Sergeant.[5]

Grade Insignia Basic role
Sapeur de 2e classe Team Member
Sapeur de 1re classe Team Member
Caporal Team Leader
Caporal-chef Team Leader
Sergent Crew Commander
one fire appliance with one team
Sergent-chef Ditto
three years in the grade
Adjudant Senior Crew Commander
one fire appliance with two teams
Adjudant-chef Ditto
three years in the grade

Sources:[7] [8]

Class B

Professional fire fighters class B are recruited through civil service exams open to direct entry candidates with a foundation degree in engineering, and to fire fighters class C with four years service, leading to employment as Lieutenant 1st class; and through a civil service exam open to fire fighters class C qualified as senior crew commanders, leading to employment as Lieutenant 2nd class.[9] 75% of the promotions from Lieutenant 2nd class to Lieutenant 1st class are through a civil service exam open to Lieutenants 2nd class with three years in the grade; 25 % through selection from Lieutenants 2nd class with five years in the grade. 75 % of the promotions from Lieutenant 1st class to Lieutenant above class are through a civil service exam open to Lieutenants 1st class with three years in the grade; 25 % through selection from Lieutenants 1st class with five years in the grade.[5] Direct entry lieutenants 1st class are undergoing a 32 weeks course at the French Fire College (Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Officiers de Sapeurs-Pompiers). Lieutenants 2nd class are undergoing a 12-week course at the Fire College, while Lieutenants 1st class promoted from 2nd class, are in addition undergoing a course of 6 weeks.[10][11][12]

Grade Insignia Basic roles
Lieutenant de 2e classe Incident Commander Bronze/Sector Commander
2-4 crews
Station Manager
Nine or less professional fire fighters
Lieutenant de 1re classe Incident Commander Bronze/Sector Commander
2-4 crews
Station Manager
Ten or more professional fire fighters
Lieutenant hors classe Incident Commander Bronze/Sector Commander
2-4 crews
Station Manager
Twenty or more professional fire fighters

Sources:[7] [8]

Class A

Professional fire fighters class A are recruited through civil service exams open to direct entry candidates with a bachelor's degree in engineering, and to fire fighters class B qualified as sector commanders.[13] Commandants are selected from captains with five years in the grade; lieutenant-colonels from commandants with five years in the grade; colonels are selected from lieutenant-colonels, deputy brigade managers with three years in the grade, and from other lieutenant-colonels with five years in the grade.[5] Direct entry captains are undergoing a 42-week course, and internal entry captains a 10-week course, at the National Fire College.[14][15]

Grade Insignia Basic roles
Capitaine Incident Commander Silver/Operations Commander
2-4 sectors
Station Manager
Thirty or more professional fire fighters
Commandant Incident Commander Gold
Incident Commander Silver/Operations Commander
2-4 sectors
Area Manager
Station Manager
Fifty or more professional fire fighters
Lieutenant-colonel Brigade Manager
Deputy Brigade Manager
Incident Commander Gold
Area Manager
Station Manager
Hundred or more professional fire fighters
Colonel Brigade Manager
Deputy Brigade Manager
Incident Commander Gold
Area Manager

Sources:[7] [8]

Responses

Paris and Marseille comprise 14% of the national total.

See also

References

  1. http://www.interieur.gouv.fr/Publications/Statistiques/Securite-civile/2011
  2. Les statistiques des services d’incendie et de secours 2016 Retrieved 2017-02-16.
  3. "Missions de l'ENSOP." Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Officiers de Sapeurs-Pompiers. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  4. "Sapeurs-pompiers professionnels." Sapuers-pompiers de France. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Brochure réforme de la filière SP." Le SDIS de Maine-et-Loire. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  6. "Décret n° 2012-521 du 20 avril 2012 portant statut particulier du cadre d'emplois des sous-officiers de sapeurs-pompiers professionnels, Chapitre II, Article 4." Legifrance. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  7. 1 2 3 Décret n° 2012-525 du 20 avril 2012 modifiant le décret n° 95-1018 du 14 septembre 1995 fixant la répartition des fonctionnaires territoriaux en groupes hiérarchiques en application de l'article 90 de la loi du 26 janvier 1984 portant dispositions statutaires relatives à la fonction publique territoriale 2017-02-14
  8. 1 2 3 Décret n° 2012-519 du 20 avril 2012 modifiant le décret n° 90-850 du 25 septembre 1990 portant dispositions communes à l'ensemble des sapeurs-pompiers professionnels 2017-02-14
  9. "Décret n° 2012-522 du 20 avril 2012 portant statut particulier du cadre d'emplois des lieutenants de sapeurs-pompiers professionnels." Legifrance. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  10. Formations d’intégration de lieutenants de 1° classe (FILT 1C). Retrieved 2017-03-29.
  11. Formations d’intégration de lieutenants de 2° classe (FILT 2C) Retrieved 2017-03-29.
  12. Formations d’adaptation de lieutenants de 1° classe (FALT 1C) Retrieved 2017-03-29.
  13. "Décret n°2001-682 du 30 juillet 2001 portant statut particulier du cadre d'emplois des capitaines, commandants, lieutenants-colonels et colonels de sapeurs-pompiers professionnels." Legifrance. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  14. Formations d’intégration de capitaine de SPP (FIC) Retrieved 2017-03-28.
  15. Formations d’adaptation de capitaine de SPP (FAC) Retrieved 2017-03-28.
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