'Not sustainable': Europe's firefighters want more funds, staff

• Firefighters say they are understaffed 
• Wildfires, house fires on the rise
• EU launches preparedness strategy

LONDON - Underinvestment in staff means Europe's fire services are overstretched as climate change raises the risk of deadly blazes, firefighter unions in the world's fastest warming-region have warned.

Wildfires fuelled by hotter, drier weather and household fires, which unions say are sometimes caused by uncertified installations of solar technology, are straining fire services across the bloc.

Firefighters want more funding and better incentives for the millions of volunteers who prop up the system.

"We have volunteers doing over 1,000 hours a year," said Pablo Sanchez, policy lead for the European Federation of Public Service Unions' Firefighter's Network (EPSU).  

"They are using volunteers like they are professionals. The system is not sustainable in the long run," he said.  

New analysis released by the EPSU ahead of International Firefighters' Day on May 4 showed the number of professional firefighters dropped significantly in several European countries between 2021 and 2023.

In Sweden, Romania and Hungary, firefighter numbers shrank two years in a row, declining overall by more than 20% between 2021 and 2023. Germany also experienced a year-on-year decline, with numbers dropping 7% overall. 

Firefighter numbers in Belgium and Portugal fell 5% and 2% overall, respectively, despite both countries seeing a small boost in numbers between 2022 and 2023.  

In some countries, the declines were driven by cuts to public services, while in others fire services struggled to replace staff as the profession has become less popular, said Sanchez.

Stephan Wevers, president of the Federation of European Fire Officers (FEU), said recruiting and retaining volunteers was becoming more difficult as training gets tougher and work-life balance has evolved.

"We have to be more active to get new people in the fire service," he said. 

Megafires and shoddy installations

Across the bloc, government spending on fire services as a share of total expenditure has not increased since records began in 2001 - remaining roughly at 0.5% - despite increased demand.

Revised European Union fiscal rules to prevent excessive government borrowing that entered into force last year will require member states to make cuts, and the EPSU warned the public sector is likely to be hit hardest, further undermining emergency responses. 

In 2024, the number of wildfires that raged across Europe was slightly below the average of recent years, but the total area burnt was higher, according to EU statistics. 

Unions have been calling for more investment in equipment and staff since 2023, one of the worst years for wildfires in Europe.

A dozen EU countries' fire services shrunk between 2022 and 2023, despite the overall number of firefighters increasing across the bloc.  

More than 360,000 firefighters served Europe in 2023, after numbers dropped by 2,800 between 2021 and 2022.

The EPSU is also calling for upgraded protective equipment and mandatory decontamination procedures across services.

Dwindling volunteers

Volunteering has become less popular as people's work and leisure commitments have evolved. Training is also becoming more intense in response to increasingly complex fire incidents, requiring greater commitment from volunteers, said Wevers. 

EU legislation should be adapted to attract more volunteers, he added. 

Members of the European Parliament want firefighters to be exempted from the Working Time Directive that sets minimum health and safety standards for working hours and has affected volunteers' ability to balance paid work with voluntary commitments.

Lawmakers and union representatives will attend a public hearing on the effect of the directive and other challenges facing firefighters in May. 

But more firefighters is not the only answer. 

Reports from the European Environment Agency, World Bank and independent advisors say EU policies and funding need to boost the bloc's prevention and resilience to climate change. 

A new EU preparedness strategy, launched in March, focuses on educating populations, improving early warnings and risk assessments and coordinating EU-wide responses, including uniting civil protection units such as firefighters. 

"We have to learn to live with wildfires," said Wevers, who said the FEU want member states to implement better nature management and building restrictions in high-risk areas. 

"We can't have a fire station on every corner of the street. We have to have a good response, but you can make a difference if you have good nature management," he said.

(Reporting by Beatrice Tridimas; Editing by Ayla Jean Ackley)