The Berlin fire brigade will complete its major structural reform in July. Interior Senator Andreas Geisel said on Monday in the interior committee of the House of Representatives. The new structure replaces the previous 20 year old organization.
With only six large departments and centralized management, Germany’s largest fire brigade should work more effectively and even faster.
Among other things, all fire and rescue stations as well as the volunteer fire brigades are combined in the Operations Department. But all guards remain in place. The reform was originally supposed to be completed in 2020. However, fighting the pandemic put a lot of strain on the fire brigade in the past year, said state fire director Karsten Homrighausen.
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In addition, the Berlin fire brigade wants to position itself better for the future. In the future, for example, there will be people in charge who will help new applicants for the fire service to find accommodation in Berlin.
According to Interior Senator Geisel, 858 new jobs have been created in the Berlin fire brigade in recent years. In addition, 325 new vehicles have been purchased, the investment for this alone amounts to over 80 million euros.
The opposition was also generally satisfied with the structural reform. CDU parliamentary group leader Burkard Dregger criticized, however, that the investment amount for vehicles and technology was too low. Only a bad stand would be held here.
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Broadcast: Inforadio, May 31, 2021, 12 noon
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