Firefighting in Belgium
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.
[5] The jurisdiction over the organisation and regulation of the fire services lies with the Directorate-General Civil Security of Belgium's FPS Interior.
[8] This framework for fire services organized on a municipal basis remained largely in place until the Ghislenghien gas explosion in 2004.
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:[9] These principles were incorporated in a new law on civil security, promulgated in 2007.
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 career-only organisation.
While also mentioned as one of their duties, the provision of emergency medical services falls under a specific framework and is further discussed below.
This number is intended for reporting less emergent problems during storm weather, such as minor flooding or broken branches obstructing public roads.
An important aspect of this arrangement is the principle of 'fastest adequate assistance' (Dutch: SAH, snelste adequate hulp, French: AA+R, aide adéquate la plus rapide, German: SAH, schnellstmöglichen angemessenen Hilfe) as laid down by the 2007 civil security law.
[15] Fire zones are not required to take up a role with regards to emergency medical services (EMS), although most of them do have an important stake in its provision.
Specially trained personnel perform fire safety inspections or check building plans during the application processes to obtain construction permits, under the authority of the mayor of the municipality concerned.
It provides specialized assistance to other emergency services (including the fire zones) and public authorities to manage disasters.
To this end, the Civil Protection disposes of specialised units and vehicles, such as mobile laboratories, rigid inflatable boats, search and rescue dogs, power generators, heavy pumps, water cannons, communications vehicles, and drones, among others.
[31][32] Career firefighters can be found mostly in larger towns and cities, while rural areas rely mostly or entirely on volunteers.
[3] 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.
[34] 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.
[35] 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,[36] non-commissioned officers and men in the ranks feeling aggrieved,[37] because no similar measure was planned for them.
