Firefighters , or firemen , are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car accidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations. The increasing complexity of modern industrialized life with an increase in the scale of hazards has stimulated both advances in firefighting technology and a broadening of the firefighter-rescuer's remit. They sometimes provide emergency medical services. The fire service , or fire and rescue service also known in some countries as the fire brigade or fire department , are some of the emergency services.
Firefighting and firefighters have become ubiquitous around the world, wildland areas to urban areas, and on board ships. Firefighters are held in high regard around the world. This causes firefighting to be one of the five trusted public service professions.
Firefighting worldwide
Further information: Firefighting worldwideIn some countries, including Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden and the United States, there are often paid, or professional career firefighters working. Additionally, there are volunteer firefighters (who are theoretically unpaid) and retained firefighters (sometimes called on call firefighters, who are paid for the specific time they are on duty, i.e. permanent part-time career firefighters) on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In such countries as the United Kingdom and Ireland, the use of additional retained firefighters is standard. In Portugal, the use of volunteer firefighters is standard, along with career firefighters.
In Australia there are volunteer brigades which are mostly unpaid rural services (although traditionally they are paid by their employers if called out during working hours).
In Germany, volunteer fire departments, called the "Freiwillige Feuerwehr", are established in every town: even the biggest German city, Berlin, with more than 3.6 million inhabitants, has volunteer firefighters besides a career fire service. In fact, only 100 German cities (most of them are towns with more than 100,000 inhabitants) have a career fire service, called the "Berufsfeuerwehr," but in every one of these cities a volunteer fire service exists, too. In cities with a career fire service, volunteer fire brigades support the career fire service at big fires, accidents and disasters. Many of the so-called volunteer departments (usually in towns with 35,000 to 150,000 inhabitants), except in very small towns and villages, are a mixed service of a core of career firemen who are supported by true volunteer firefighters should the need arise. However, the official title of those departments is nevertheless "volunteer fire service".
The structure in Austria is similar to Germany. There are just six career fire services in Vienna, Graz, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Salzburg and Linz. As of 2007, some 4,527 volunteer fire departments, the back-bone of the Austrian fire service, could rely on about 320,000 men and women voluntary firefighters as active members. Fire departments exist in even the smallest villages, where they contribute to community life, usually by organizing fairs and other fund-raising activities. In Venezuela, there are, beside the types mentioned above, University Firefighters. They attend any emergency inside the campus and the zones around; however, their most important job is to develop new technologies in this area, thanks to the high level of education of its members: in the Simón Bolívar University Volunteer Fire Department, around 80% of its members have a university degree or are in the process of obtaining one.
In India municipalities are bound by law to have a fire brigade and participate in a regional fire service. Each city has its own fire brigade. The main functions of firefighting services in India are provision of fire protection and of services during emergencies such as building collapses, drowning cases, gas leakage, oil spillage, road and rail accidents, bird and animal rescues, fallen trees, appropriate action during natural calamities, and so on. Industrial corporations also have their own firefighting service. Each airport and seaport has its own firefighting units.
In Japan, fire services are organized on a city/town/village basis. There are 894 fire headquarters and 3,598 volunteer fire corps. These have a total of 155,000 active career firefighters and 21,000 vehicles with 4,800 fire houses; 920,000 volunteer firefighters share an additional 51,000 trucks.
In Romania, the Romanian General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations is responsible for fire fighting and civil defense.
Goals of firefighting
The goals of firefighting are (in order) saving lives, saving property, and protecting the environment. As such, the skills required for safe operations are regularly practiced during training evaluations throughout a firefighters career. In the United States, the preeminent fire training and standards organization is the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Often initial firefighting skills are taught during a local, regional, or state approved fire academy. Depending on the requirements of a department, additional skills and certifications such as technical rescue and Para-medicine may also be taught at this time.
Firefighters work closely with other emergency response agencies, most particularly local and state police departments. As every fire scene is technically a crime scene until deemed otherwise by a qualified investigator, there is often overlap between the responsibilities of responding firefighters and police officers such as evidence and scene protection, initial observations of first respondents, and chain of evidence issues. The increasing role of firefighters in providing emergency medical services also brings firefighters into common overlap with law enforcement. One example of this is a common state law requiring all gunshot wounds to be reported to law enforcement agencies.
Fire fighting has several basic skills: prevention, self preservation, rescue, preservation of property and fire control. Firefighting is further broken down into skills which include size-up, extinguishing, ventilation, and salvage and overhaul. Search and Rescue, which has already been mentioned, is performed early in any fire scenario and many times is in unison with extinguishing and ventilation.
Prevention
Prevention attempts to ensure that no place simultaneously has sufficient heat, fuel and air to allow ignition and combustion. Most prevention programs are directed at controlling the energy of activation (heat).
Fire suppression systems have a proven record for controlling and extinguishing unwanted fires. Many fire officials recommend that every building, including residences, have fire sprinkler systems. Correctly working sprinklers in a residence greatly reduce the risk of death from a fire. With the small rooms typical of a residence, one or two sprinklers can cover most rooms.
In addition, a major duty of fire services is the regular inspection of buildings to ensure they are up to the current building fire codes, which are enforced so that a building can sufficiently resist fire spread, potential hazards are located, and to ensure that occupants can be safely evacuated, commensurate with the risks involved.
Other methods of fire prevention are by directing efforts to reduce known hazardous conditions or by preventing dangerous acts before tragedy strikes. This is normally accomplished in many innovative ways such as conducting presentations, distributing safety brochures, providing news articles, writing public safety announcements (PSA) or establishing meaningful displays in well-visited areas. Ensuring that each household has working smoke alarms, is educated in the proper techniques of fire safety, has an evacuation route and rendezvous point is of top priority in public education for most fire prevention teams in almost all fire department localities.
Self-preservation
Self-preservation is very critical. The basic technique firefighters use is to know where they are, and to avoid hazards. Current standards in the United States recommend that firefighters work in teams, using a "two-in, two-out" rule whenever in an IDLH (Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health) environment.
Tools are generally carried at all times and are important for not only forcible entry but also for self rescue. A Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) delivers air to the firefighter through a full face mask and is worn to protect against smoke inhalation, toxic fumes, and super heated gasses. A special device called a Personal Alert Safety System (PASS) is commonly worn independently o
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