CONTROVERSY Services pay firefighters in Calvados: “And free relief? “- Le Dauphiné Libéré

The decision is controversial. On March 21, the board of the county fire and rescue service (SDIS) Calvados, led by President (UDI) Department Jean-Léonce Dupont, wanted to impose a lump sum contribution of some interventions Sdis .

Inspired by the Court of Auditors

Thus, as of 1 st in April, it will cost € 463 for unblocking elevator, 410 € for a “wrongful call with commitment”, € 241 for a drunk person or a “house without lift transport” following a malaise for example. Clearly, anything that falls outside of the emergency public service missions. The Calvados department only follows a recommendation of the Court of Auditors 2014 advocating charge for this type of interventions that support the budgets of not valid though departments (10 no longer able to pay benefits).

“This decision violates the principle of free relief,” railed yesterday Colonel Eric Faure, President of the national Federation of firefighters. And denouncing “a communication effect, or a kind of populism at the expense of the fundamental mission of public security ‘.

” To scare people, accident we risk “

“Today, all Sdis have taken steps to charge abusive interventions. There are already exceptions, such as the polluter pays for the pollution of a river, for example, but also to interventions that fall more comfort than public safety, as smoke out a wasps’ nest. ” For Colonel Faure, “we are in something else. For example, a person who falls from his bed and pressed his panic button. In Calvados, the remote alarm calls arrive directly from the firefighters, who will intervene. So for the elderly, it’s double jeopardy: it pays a company to have this alarm and will have to pay 241 euros more for firefighters who noted. “The president of the National Federation of firefighters is concerned:” To scare people, it may lead to accidents. Some do not dare call “.

In Calvados, the decision announced has also been denounced by leftist elected as a” breach of public service “from the departmental majority (UDI-LR ) that already has “deleted dozens of firefighters positions in three or four months.”