Geography of firefighting

[2] Fire departments exist in even the smallest Austrian villages, where they contribute to community life, usually by organizing fairs and other fund-raising activities.

Larger departments in towns from a few thousand to up to 100,000 inhabitants also still largely rely on volunteers, yet some are nowadays forced to have one or more de facto career firefighters, employed by the municipality and conscripts who can choose for this compulsory community service instead of the compulsory military service, for daily maintenance duties and to increase the availability of personnel during working hours.

In Belgium, fire departments (Dutch: Brandweerdienst, French: Service d'Incendie) are still mainly funded by the community or local government.

However, starting January 1, 2015, the Reformation of Fire Departments and Civil Protection (Hervorming van de Civiele Veiligheid) was complete.

One of the first measures of the reformation put into action was the SAH (Snelste Adequate Hulpverlening), meaning that, regardless of territorial boundaries, the fire department who can arrive at the scene the fastest with the most adequate equipment (one driver, one petty officer and four fire fighters) will be the first one to turn out and handle the call until the department who has jurisdiction arrives.

There are also influential supporting fire brigades owned by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Defense Force and police.

Recently the country was able to train more than 100 firefighters in Australia based only on saving the forests and natures of Botswana run under the Forestry Department.

Over all, fire fighting in Brazil has been undervalued and underfunded by the government, leading to overstretched areas to attend, constant failure of material and shifting of personnel towards police duties.

The Canadian Coast Guard provides some marine firefighting capability off Canada's coastline as part of search and rescue operations.

They also must finance the acquisition, maintenance and operation of their buildings and equipment (including fire trucks) rather than rely upon government allocations.

The majority of Chinese firefighters, since 2018, serve as part of the civilianized formations under the Ministry of Emergency Management under the State Council (formerly as paramilitary personnel of the People's Armed Police).

The Professional Fire Brigade (SPP, sapeur-pompier professionnel) numbers over 30,000 firefighters, employed by the départements and working in shifts.

In Paris and Marseille, the fire brigades are made up of military personnel, but under the control of the Ministry of the Interior in a similar way to the Gendarmes.

Their regulation and order of duty (in case of full-time employed) is according to the professional municipal firemen and the level of safety more specialized to the characteristics of the establishment.

Firefighting units in Indonesia (known locally as Pemadam Kebakaran shortened "Damkar" or "PMK") fall under the control of the provincial, city, regency and municipal district/township governments and under the supervision of the national Ministry of Home Affairs.

This means that a wide variety of equipment is carried on the first-turnout appliance (ladders, hose, breathing apparatus and extrication equipment as well as a vehicle mounted pump and an 1800-litre water tank), whilst more specialised vehicles—water tankers, rescue tenders, high reach appliances etc.—are stationed at strategic locations.

At border areas, such as Counties Donegal and Louth, local agreements are in place with the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service in relation to attending incidents.

The corps' task is to provide safety for people, animals and property, and to give technical assistance to industries and fire prevention advice.

The local brigade is responsible for responding to all incidents; the regional fire service provides a control center and operates the special vehicles.

All emergency services rely on a single modern digital national communications network based on the Tetra standard.

There are containers with command and control, hydraulic submersible pumps (up to 8000 litres per minute), hoseline (up to 3 km of 150-mm hose), watertank, foamtank, decontamination, Hazmat, breathing apparatus, technical rescue, etc.

The NZFS has a significant role in Urban Search and Rescue and contributes key resources to New Zealand's three USAR teams, based in Auckland, Palmerston North and Christchurch.

There is much cooperation between the various firefighting resources in New Zealand, but it is recognised that current legislation is not very flexible—there are loopholes in the areas of funding and legal liability, among others.

It is Latin America's youngest national fire service, tasked to provide firefighting, disaster and accident rescue duties.

Firefighting and rescue services in the Philippines are, since 1991, handled by the Bureau of Fire Protection of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

A uniformed organization under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the SCDF provides ambulance, firefighting and emergency response services in Singapore.

The Fire Brigade of Valencia is famous for having created an NGO called Bomberos Sin Fronteras (Firefighters Without Borders) which helps in any natural disaster that could happen anywhere in the world.

In addition there are a number of independent fire services, such as the Peterborough volunteers, the Downe House School brigade and those run by large industrial concerns.

These departments are generally organized as local or county government subsidiaries, special-purpose district entities or not-for-profit corporations.

The original Guardie dei Fuoco, established in 1820, was a military fire service, and part of the armed forces of the Papal States.