Most o us are committed irst by passion

ire ighters seek olunteers. At the time o migration and summer concentrations, the soldiers o ire alert opinion. By way o press and display as the scene where is their igilance in this season beaches, orests, balls o 14 July, Tower o rance , the campaign launched by their national ederation, the NSP , around behind a disturbing message: I the number o laypersons remains what it is, namely oluntary 204.000 on 254.000 ire ighters, emergency ser ices supply will become quickly inadequate.

Because the application continues its irresistible rise. The number o inter entions, which approach the 3.1 million in 1992, rose to more than 3.8 million last year. Relie to the person, spiralling ( 120 between 1992 and 2005), are about two-thirds, while ires represent more than 10.The heroic image o the ire ighter lowing into the lames to extricate the ictims rom the blaze is more really consistent with reality. It was continued to stir up many ocations, o ten early. "Already, any kid, I saw the Red truck in rides, shows Eric Legallais, ire ighter in the Barrens.". Most o us are committed irst by passion.

To explain the continued increase in relie to the person, the NSP questioned regularly "disengagement o medical care" or guards and the reorganization o the map o hospital ser ices and re erence, much too requent to his liking, 15, the number o the UAS calls, to the 18 o the ire. The current sociological changes are hardly likely to re erse the trend. The population is still increasing and télé-alarme networks related to the appeals o the ire ighters to de elop treatment centres. "Today, two inter entions on six is to go meet someone allen in it", is a ire ighter. The social di ide is to reduce and, with it, the number o his shipwrecked (SD , young poor, amilies in distress, depression, etc.) to which he and colleagues lend e ery day assistance. They must also address the loss o the social link in the countryside: the spirit o mutual assistance dissipates with the more or less massi e installation o urban accustomed to consume ser ices. "Today, seeking us or a Yes or a no." It is e en stronger in summer on the coast, where we're saturated applications. It calls us to a sprain, while there are still ten years was going to the doctor. "The user, it is true, has no idea o the price o our inter ention", said an o icer o the ire.

Broken aster "wishes"

While their missions ceased to increase and di ersi y, ire ighters, who are also real agents o proximity, ha e seen their population density increase rom 4.46 to 3.89 per 1,000 inhabitants at the end o the last i teen years. "Nothing that between 2000 and 2004, we ha e lost 4,000 to 5,000 olunteers per year," said colonel Richard ignon, the President o the NSP , noting howe er a trend towards stability or two years. Does! Past losses were o set. And this despite hard training and organization. or example, "beeps" ha e replaced the old Mermaid, to ire three shots, two or an accident. "It a oids both mobilize e eryone." "Now, we are called by our specialty and the type o inter ention", says this oluntary. Dri er gear in the "ci il", it intact guard the lame o the irst days.

This, howe er, does not burn e erywhere with the same ardour. ire o olunteering is more li ely in the rural and orest departments and in the East o the rance in urban areas. Di icult to speak o crisis o ocations: olunteers would still also to pronounce their "wishes". On the other hand, they break them much earlier than be ore. Today, idelity takes on a erage six years.

The obligations related to olunteering has accommodated e il rom the new requirements o mobility o pro essional li e. "In the North o the Department, the olunteers o ten were loggers or employees o a sawmill, there ore, sedentary and readily a ailable." Today, young people ha e little acti ity on the spot and go to work e ery day in Bordeaux. "The time deter any desire o commitment", explains Eric Legallais, also responsible or relations between oluntary ire ighters and businesses to the departmental ire and rescue des Landes (Département) Ser ice.

A little gain ul acti ity

Other brake, skills required, equi alent to those o a pro essional, require more extensi e training to meet a range o risks and control which is considerably expanded. Here again, must be able to ha e enough time and rely on a comprehensi e employer, because the initial training lasts thirty days at least, in addition to orty hours o continuing education per year.

I , by some aspects, olunteering has been long considered a leisure, is true e erywhere. And it

is still di icult or all concerned to see a sort o second job because, inancially, the game is worthwhile not really. Response time (the acation) is paid to non-taxable minimum 8 euros. The olunteer attached to a irst inter ention centre, the smallest o the three le els o relie centres, which are 8.099 in the territory, y little ind his account. Compensation o ine, set at 9 o the amount o the acation, is not more likely to attract interest: she "reports only" 30 euros or a weekend. olunteer ire ighters (SP ) that depend on a main relie centre better deri e their PIN o the game. The number o inter entions is higher day as also at night, howe er, past midnight, the amount o the acation double. The guards o twenty- our hours that the olunteers can do are paid at least 4 euros per hour, in an annual limit o 800 hours. "The ar, can total reaching 7,000 euros", said lieutenant Bernard Causit, head o the oluntary centre o Peyrehorade, in the South o the Landes. "But the SP comes to guards, without looking at other aspects o its mission, will quickly grow tired," He hastens to point out.

Moti ate businesses

Measures ha e been adopted to extend commitment times, as the "deli ery o loyalty and recognition." Created in 2004, it gi es right to a pension which can reach 1,800 euros per year tax- ree. It is more than our times ormer étérance allocation (EUR 400). or quali ied, the SP must pay a contribution o EUR 51 in the sixth year o its commitment, and or ourteen years. Howe er, some ear that this re orm does produce the opposite o the e ect expected. That is, it leads to rather a wa e o de ections spent the six years o ser ice.

With employers, arrangements ha e been initiated, in consultation with the organisations o employers, to acilitate the insertion o the SP in company and reassure leaders (box read). Since 1996, the year o creation o the SDIS and their connection to the departments, place o Commons and place the ormation o a olunteer is akin to a continuing ocational training. His cost, including the cost o accommodation, is supported by the SDIS. Agreement with this organization, the company can reco er 75 o the amount o the equi alent to the training time acations. The said principle o subrogation is also entitled to all o the acation due to the SP when it inter enes in his time o work. Moreo er, as one o its employees a olunteer can bene it rom tax exemptions imposed in respect o patronage. inally, the employers were, in law, discounts on their ire insurance.

The e ecti eness o these measures has yet to demonstrate. "They do not constitute a major contribution to business leaders," said colonel Richard ignon. These, according to him, are much more sensiti e to the act ha e indwelling o men and women trained to pre ent and combat disasters, pro ide and organize relie .

Rehabilitation o the barracks

"Introduce a scale o aluation haircut o the corporate tax would be a more e ecti e incenti e", said Robert Cabé, ice President o the General Council o the Landes. This Department, managing authority o the SDIS as all the others except those o Paris, his irst Crown and the metropolitan area o Marseille, has taken the party quite strongly de elop olunteerism and contain the part o pro essionals. This choice, that all departments ha e ailed, is largely inancial considerations: "our 305 pro essionals and administrati e sta represent a wage o EUR 15.2 million, then our oluntary 1.640 cost us EUR 3.8 million," says the elected Chairman o the Landes Département.

His community in no less paid a prize important enough to lure more than 400 new olunteers in just i e years. The ten-year plan or the rehabilitation o its 60 barracks, she comes to end next year, amount to EUR 28 million. The old RCMP, gear or inter ention in the orest, ha e all been renewed. "Young people would not come in barracks where there are no showers and where the equipment was obsolete", argues Robert Cabé. "We a licted a considerable delay which required a big e ort to catch-up," said colonel Oli ier Bourdil, Director o the Département o Landes in ECHO.

This e ort, the ast majority o the departments has accomplished it. This explains that the inancing o the SDIS is de eloped to weigh so hea y in departmental budgets. Between 1999 and 2005, spending that general ad ice ha e de oted them more than doubled, rom $ 790 million to EUR 1.7 billion. Is 60 euros per year and per inhabitant, the price o ci il security in rance stands still in the a erage European, o er the Greece and the Portugal, but below the Germany. The départemental taxpayer supports the essential. The user, he still sees to the ire.