Central Denmark emergency services triple full-time firefighters

Midtjysk Brand & Redning, the emergency services agency for central Denmark, is tripling its full-time firefighter staff in Viborg and Silkeborg, state broadcaster DR reports.

The move means six full-time firefighters will now be on call around the clock at each station, ready to respond within a minute. Previously, only two full-time firefighters were on duty in each city.

Lasse Clemensen, the agency’s emergency director, cited difficulties in recruiting volunteer part-time firefighters who meet the requirement of living and working near the fire stations.

“Today, people don’t always work in the same area they live in, or they work near a fire station but live somewhere else,” he said.

The expansion will allow crews to begin extinguishing apartment fires immediately, without waiting for part-time reinforcements to arrive.

“Before, when we arrived at an apartment fire, we could start preparing and laying out hoses, but then we had to wait for additional forces. Now we can start right away—once the team leader assesses the situation, we can send in the smoke divers immediately,” Clemensen said.