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The Paris Fire Brigade (French Brigade des Sapeurs-Pompiers de Paris, BSPP), is the fire service for the city of Paris and the surrounding départements of Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne, Hauts-de-Seine. The remaining departments in the Paris Metropole have their own fire brigades.

The brigade is a branch of the French Army and consists of military personnel, who are placed at the disposal of the Paris Prefecture of Police in an arrangement similar to that of the French Gendarmerie (they end the yearly Bastille Day parade, and are traditionally the most applauded unit).

The Paris Fire Brigade is part of the combat engineering forces, the firefighters are therefore called "sappers" (sapeurs).

Contents 1 Mission 2 History 3 Selection and instruction 4 Resources 5 Corporate Organisation 6 Field Organisation 6.1 First fire group (Premier groupement d'incendie) 6.2 Second fire group (Deuxième groupement d'incendie) 6.3 Third fire group (Troisième groupement d'incendie) 6.4 Instructions Group (Groupement d'instruction) 7 Special Services 8 Operations 9 See also 10 External links

As any French firefighter, their missions are

1. Fire Suppression
2. Emergency ambulance
3. Utility Safety - Gas Leaks et al
4. Personal Assistance - Victims services, SAR lost persons
5. Motor vehicle collision response
6. Protection of beings
7. Patrol, Reconnaissance and Research
8. Animal rescue
9. Pollution control and HAZMAT Response
10. Alarm response

They defend Paris and its "little crown" (close suburbs), but also specific sites:

• Guiana Space Center of Kourou Guyane
• test field for missiles in Biscarosse
• site for extraction and processing of natural gas in Lacq-Artix

Founded in 1793 as the Corps des gardes-pompes de la ville de Paris and following the 23 hour Austrian Embassy Fire in 1810 became a military organisation by Imperial Decree by the Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte. On 18 September 1811, it became the Bataillon de sapeurs-pompiers de Paris and was expanded to the Régiment de sapeurs-pompiers de Paris in 1867. On 1 March 1967 became the Brigade des sapeurs-pompiers de Paris.

The operational personnel (hommes du rang i.e. privates) are usually engaged for five years. They must have French nationality, be between 18 and 25 years old, have a clean criminal record and have at least a vocational training certificate (CAP). The selection is three days long, with sports tests, psychomotor tests, medical examination, etc.

The instruction is made in the Instruction group (Groupement d'instruction, GI), at the fort of Villeneuve-Saint-Georges. The first period lasts two months, with the first aid and first responder training, and basic military instruction (including shooting).

Then the sapper undertakes practical training of four months in a Fire company (compagnie d'incendie); he takes part in personal assistance and utility safety operations.

The sapper come back to the Instruction group for two months for his fire training. He is then attached to a Fire company.

The BSPP consists of 7,000 personnel who man 81 stations and facilities who conduct 1200 operations daily.

• 463 pieces of equipment
  • 130 Pumpers
  • 63 Aerial Devices
  • 66 Ambulances
  • 71 Command and Patrol vehicles
  • 133 Special Engines
    • Fireboats
    • Helicopters
    • All terrain vehicles
    • Four wheel drives

Commanded by a General, who directly controls the Information and Public Relations Bureau, and who is assisted a Colonel-Adjutant, a General Council called a Cabinet and a Chief of Staff who controls the following Bureaus:

• General Studies Bureau
• Financial Programs and Budget Bureau

and three Assistant Chiefs of Staff:

• Assistant Chief for Employment
  • Operations Bureau
  • Formation and Instruction Bureau
  • Prevention Bureau
• Assistant Chief for Logistics
  • Techniques Service
  • Infrastructure Service
  • Administrative Service
  • Telecommunications and Information Service
• Assistant Chief for Human Resources
  • Human resources Bureau
  • Personnel Welfare Bureau
• Chief Doctor
  • Emergency medical service/SAMU
  • Chief of the Health Service

• First fire group — Northeast Paris and Seine-Saint-Denis
• Second fire group — Southeast Paris and Val-de-Marne
• Third fire group — west Paris and Hauts-de-Seine

each contains eight Fire companies and an Emergency medical service

• Instructions group
• Services group

The First fire group of the Paris Fire Brigade covers Northeast Paris and Seine-Saint-Denis and is Headquartered at:

• 12 rue carpeaux 75018 Paris tel: 01.42.26.83.18

and consist of the following units:

• Fire Group Staff
• EMS/SAMU
• Facilities (Maintenance) Group

and 8 Fire Companies (CEI)

• 7th at Blanche
• 9th at Montmartre
• 10th at Landon
• 12th at Menilmontant
• 13th at Aulnay-sous-Bois
• 14th at Clichy-sous-Bois
• 24th at Montreuil
• 26th at Saint-Denis

The Second Fire Group of the Paris Fire Brigade covers Southeast Paris and Val-de-Marne and is Headquartered at:

• 16 avenue Boutroux 75013 Paris Tel: 01.45.82.58.18

and consist of the following:

• Fire Group Staff
• EMS/SAMU
• Facilities (Maintenance) Group

and 8 Fire Companies (CEI)

• 1st at Chaligny
• 2nd at Massena
• 8th at Rousseau
• 11th at Sévigné
• 15th at Champigny
• 17th at Créteil
• 22nd at Rungis
• 23rd at Saint-Maur

The Third Fire Group of the Paris Fire Brigade covers Western Paris and Hauts-de-Seine and is Headquartered at:

• 14 rue Henry Regnault 92400 Courbevoie. Telephone: 01.49.04.74.18

and consists of the following units:

• Fire Group Staff
• EMS/SAMU
• Atelier Group

and 8 Fire Companies:

• 3rd at Port Royal
• 4th at Colombier
• 5th at Champerret
• 6th at Grenelle
• 16th at Boulogne
• 21st at Plessis Clamart
• 27th at Gennevilliers
• 28th at Puteaux

The Instructions Group of the Paris Fire Brigade provides education and training to all Paris firefighters. It consists of the following:

• Group Staff
• EMS/SAMU
• Center for Formation and Cadres
• Center for the Instruction of Recruits
  • Basic Training Company
  • Auto School, driving and repairs
• Support Company

Controlled by Headquarters

• Divers/SCUBA
• Search and Rescue
• Canine Service
• Music
• Gymnastic Team
• Air Service
• Boat Service

The BSPP has about 1 200 interventions per day. In 2001:

• 1^st fire group: 163 081 interventions amongst which 9 606 fires;
• 2^nd fire group: 136 078 interventions amongst which 5 583 fires;
• 3^rd fire group: 150 376 interventions amongst which 5 234 incendies.

Note that Paris has more than 2 million inhabitants, and each departement has about 1,3 million inhabitants; there are altogether 6,16 million inhabitants in the BSPP zone (1999). This represents:

• per day: 19 interventions per 100 000 inhabitants;
• per year: 7 300 interventions per 100 000 inhab., amongst which 331 fires per 100 000 inhab.

• Fire brigade
• Police Nationale
• Sapeurs-Pompiers

• Official Website - French Only