The recent report by the volunteer service task force, submitted to the Home Secretary on 23 May, highlights the growing needs on the ground and the fact that many volunteer firefighters find it difficult to balance their working and personal lives with their voluntary work.
Constant availability, health, mobility, changing roles: there are many factors that affect the long-term sustainability of their commitment.
More than a third of volunteers have been involved for less than five years, and the number of new recruits is falling.
"Going one step further"
In 2013, in Chambéry, the previous government introduced 25 measures to improve the status of volunteer firefighters. Whilst these measures have led to some progress, the Minister for the Interior now wishes to go even further, as he reiterated at the national firefighters’ congress in Ajaccio (14 October) and in line with the commitments made by the President of the Republic to the emergency services gathered at the Élysée Palace on 6 October. The very future of the French civil protection model is at stake.
Ahead of the new volunteer scheme for the fire service, which is due to be proposed in 2018, a dedicated task force – launched last December – has just submitted its findings to the Minister of State, Minister for the Home.
Submission of the report on the volunteering mission
Olivier Richefou, Chair of the Mayenne Departmental Council and Chair of the National Conference of Fire and Rescue Services; Pierre Brajeux, Vice-President of MEDEF; Catherine Troendlé, Senator for Haut-Rhin, Vice-President of the Senate, and President of the National Council of Volunteer Firefighters; Fabien Matras, Member of Parliament for the Var, member of the National Conference of Fire and Rescue Services; and Colonel Éric Faure, President of the National Federation of Firefighters of France.