The Brussels Fire Service has launched a new recruitment campaign in an effort to find a total of 72 new firefighters. Of the 72, 24 must be Dutch-speaking and 48 Francophone.
Speaking at the launch of the new recruitment campaign, the Brussels Fire Service’s spokesman Walter Derieuw said that “We are looking 24 Dutch-speaking men and women to reinforce the ranks of the Brussels Fire Service straight away. We will also be drafting a recruitment reserve list of 75 Dutch-speakers and twice that number of Francophones. In Brussels, in order to ensure that regional public services such as the Fire Service are sufficiently bi-lingual recruitment quotas are in place for Francophones and Dutch-speakers.
The recruitment procedure and the various test that candidates will have to undergo will run until at least early April next year. After that the first successful candidates will start their training.
Walter Derieuw told VRT News the first of the new recruits should be working as firefighters within 18 months.
Medical assistance
Mr Derieuw went onto say that "The main task performed by the Brussels Fire Service is emergency medical assistance. We staff the 112 (emergency number) ambulance in the Brussels-Capital Region. This work accounts for 80% of their daily duties. The remaining 20% is firefighting, emptying flooded cellars, freeing people that are trapped,…)”.