Brandschutz

The municipalities are responsible for the fire department and fire protection in their area, while the districts are responsible for supra-local tasks of defensive fire protection and technical assistance on their territory.

In Schleswig-Holstein, the municipalities are responsible for ensuring defensive fire protection and technical assistance in their area. To this end, they must maintain efficient public fire departments appropriate to local conditions.

Anyone who resides in a volunteer fire department's district or who is regularly available for emergency service can join the active service. Applicants must be physically and mentally fit for fire department and have reached the age of 16. Membership ends when the member reaches the age of 60 or, at the member's request, at the latest at the end of the year in which they reach the age of 67. If a volunteer fire department has a youth section, young people can join from the age of 10.

Members of volunteer fire departments perform their duties on a voluntary basis. Employees may not suffer any disadvantages in their employment relationship, in social security and unemployment insurance or in the company pension scheme as a result of their service in public fire departments. If employees take part in operations, fire safety patrols, training events or other events at the request of the municipality during working hours, the employer shall continue to pay their wages. Members of voluntary fire departments are partially entitled to an expense allowance in accordance with municipal statutes.

The districts are responsible for the supra-local tasks of ensuring fire protection and technical assistance. This includes, among other things

- to conduct supra-local training courses,

- setting up and maintaining the necessary systems for supra-local alerting and communication,

- to set up and maintain a fire department operations control center permanently staffed with appropriately trained personnel,

- to set up and maintain a fire department technical center for the storage of vehicles and equipment, maintenance and testing of equipment

equipment and materials and to conduct training courses,

- to provide assistance in the event of incidents involving hazardous substances and goods a "Hazardous materials fire brigade"and

to maintain it,

- to support the municipalities in equipping their fire departments and to advise them in all matters relating to the fire department

to advise them in all matters relating to the fire service,

- to draw up alarm plans for supra-local deployment and cross-municipal assistance.

Furthermore, the district administrator, as the general lower state authority, is the supervisory authority for the public fire departments, the district fire brigade management, the district fire brigade association and the plant fire departments.

Further information can be obtained from the local fire department or the municipal or district fire brigade association as well as on the website of the Ministry of the Interior, Municipal Housing and Sport of the State of Schleswig-Holstein.

• To the volunteer fire department in your municipality or
• in the independent cities of Flensburg, Kiel, Lübeck and Neumünster, to the professional fire brigade or
• to the districts and independent cities for supra-local tasks.