BRANDWEERZONE ANTWERPEN
Brandweerzone Antwerpen, The Antwerp Fire and Rescue Service is a professional fire corps that operates in the city of Antwerp and the surrounding area.
Over 550.000 citizens in the area can count on the help of the service. The overall protection area is more than 260 km².
Next to a large urban area the service operates in the Port of Antwerp. This Port is the second largest in Europe and the seventh largest in the world, with the biggest and most diversified petrochemical concentration in Europe. Along the docks and the shores of the river Scheldt there are about 125 km useful mooring banks. Therefore a specialized fire service diving intervention team is equipped with RIB-boats.
In case of an emergency concerning industrial fire, chemical incidents on ships or on shore, the fire service can call up on the Port Authority for tug boat assistance. The tugs are well equipped with powerful pumps and extinguishers.
The expansion of the Port of Antwerp, as well as the extensive network of road and railroads forms an extra challenge for the emergency services.
The fire service employs about 800 men and women of which 750 are operational and well-trained firefighters. Three ambulances carry out more than 7.000 interventions a year. The service executes about 6.500 interventions a year, 1500 of which concern fires, and 5.000 interventions for accidents, rescuing people, diving, technical interventions, exterminating wasps, etc. The fire engine fleet contains specialized vehicles such as foam pumps, powder trucks, container pumps, elevators and water tankers.