What Are Firefighters For And What Is Their Function?

The firefighters are those that help protect citizens and advising community with information on safety and fire prevention. They have the ability to control fires and assist in various emergency situations caused by nature such as floods and earthquakes or by the recklessness of people causing accidents.

This profession does a great job, they know all the action measures, the risks and use a wide range of equipment that applies water, fire extinguishers and extendable ladders, among others, to make the development of their work easier.

What is the role of firefighters?

They are trained through special studies and are governed by standards and learning about fire fighting and in turn assisting victims of all types of disasters. Their presence and work is very important in all communities of the world, since accidents or fires can occur anywhere due to the negligence of many people.

The different states are obliged to promote this activity and in the same way provide them with the appropriate conditions so that they can do their heroic work adequately and satisfactorily.

Currently, these rescuers can be mobilized from their headquarters in special trucks, with all the necessary conditions to carry out their work in disaster sites. These trucks must have tools and fire hoses available in maximum conditions and other elements that help them solve the problems that arise.

Its main function is to put out all kinds of fires and also rescue work and solve various accidents that can endanger the lives of people and animals. Among the most important functions are:

Firefighters are in charge of extinguishing urban fires

These include all types of fires in flats, garages, cars, establishments, buildings or garbage containers, among others, that occur in urban areas.

Firefighters fight rural fires

Here it refers to the cases of fires that occur in houses that are outside the urban nucleus, blocks, places or houses of towns.

Firefighters extinguish wildfires

They are the most common fires and the ones we know the most about, in addition to being the ones that damage the most plant resources and if not controlled in time, they can affect houses in rural areas that are close to the fire.

Firefighters attack and fight industrial fires

These fires include those that occur in factories, transformation centers, industrial establishments or storage centers. They are generally characterized by being highly dangerous, since in these places there are mostly large amounts of fuel.

Firefighters are in charge of aquatic rescues

These are rescues that are caused by people who have fallen into the water with their vehicle, searches for victims in coastal areas or some other emergencies that can occur in this group.

Firefighters are responsible for the release of traffic accidents

These are the rescues that are made to victims who are trapped in a traffic accident or some type of accident that occurs in a means of transport such as trains or buses.

Firefighters participate in vertical rescues

They can be given for the rescue of victims who have suffered falls due to unevenness or for the evacuation of groups of citizens who have been trapped in fires.

Firefighters are trained in removal of hazardous items

They are trained to remove threatening elements, where the safety of citizens, businesses or homes, among others, can be put at risk. Among them you can name the trees, roofs or other elements fallen by the wind.

Firefighters participate in dangerous goods emergencies

It is about any type of incident that can happen in the transportation or handling of toxic, radioactive, explosive or corrosive and flammable materials. These emergencies can include accidents involving trucks that transport some of these dangerous materials or the leakage of substances in an industrial process.

Landslides and searches for buried persons

These incidents include constructions or buildings that are threatened or have already suffered a collapse and that must be cleaned up and targeted to avoid a total collapse of the structure. In the same way, a search is carried out for the victims who may have been buried after the collapse.

Fire rescues and accidents

These are the main and customary actions that these heroic rescuers carry out as public servants and they work with the best of their effort to guarantee safety in various situations of daily life.

Rescue of trapped animals

Their service is not based solely on putting out fires, they also provide their services to rescue animals in different circumstances where they have had an accident and have been trapped.

Minor emergencies involving firefighters

Mostly these rescuers attend serious or high responsibility emergencies, however, on a day-to-day basis there may be cases of lesser emergencies that they can also attend to, such as:

• The elimination of swarms.
• Manifestation of fires of lesser magnitude.
• Technical assistance.
• Facilitate and promote prevention and awareness against fires.
• Home openings.
• Remove fallen trees.

Types of firefighters

When we mention the typology of this guild, it is necessary to make several basic, general and specific differences, we can distinguish them as follows:

Salaried firefighters

They are those who receive a salary for the work of their work and service, within them we can find various functions and entitlements:

• Municipal firefighters: they are those who belong to the public service.

• Consortium firefighters: their service belongs to councils or autonomous communities.

• National firefighters: they are those who work in airports.
• Forest firefighters: they are highly recognized for the great performance they perform in the fires of immense wooded areas.

Volunteer firemen

They are those who do not receive any type of salary and their work is classified as a community service.

Private firefighters

They are those who work directly for some companies or factories.

Work activities carried out by firefighters

• They carry out fire safety programs in the community, in order to save lives, property and real estate.

• They are in charge of attending various traffic emergencies, floods, chemical spills and rescue situations.

• They transmit information on precautionary measures against fires for people who work in factories, hotels, shops or offices. They inspect the areas of these places, to verify if they meet the requirements of the escape routes and smoke detectors properly.

• They make visits to schools, to raise awareness about everything related to fire and its prevention.

• When on duty, they spend time at the station waiting for any emergency calls, maintain units, perform equipment checks, and train to stay fit and practice firefighting techniques. .

• In emergency situations, appropriate protective uniforms and accessories should be worn to isolate the fire.

• If they have to attend a fire, they should give priority to evacuating the area at risk. While some are pumping the water and foam over the fire, others enter the scene to make sure that no one is trapped in the scene.

• They use various equipment such as ladders, intercoms, and breathing apparatus. In some cases, they use thermal cameras to find people in smoke-filled rooms. If the victim requires it, they are trained to perform first aid.

• They must make sure that there are no additional risks, before leaving the place and when returning to the station, they have to make a report that can be very helpful for the police and the insurance companies.
• In the case of road, air or rail accidents, they must have the special equipment to cut sheet metal and remove it from the road with heavy lifting equipment.

Why are firefighters important?

They are people who are fully trained to be part of the work of extinguishing a fire and to assist the victims of any type of natural or man-made disaster, such as earthquakes, floods and other accidents.

Their work is extremely important and that is why they are found in all the nations of the world, since the formation of a fire can occur anywhere, whether by accident or negligence.

In that case, it is necessary to give merit to their work and the nations are obliged to promote this interesting activity and in the same way provide them with the equipment and the best conditions, so that they can carry out this important and heroic task that goes beyond the protection of people.

Completion of the firefighters’ work

To conclude, it can be said that these professionals are always at the service and alert when having to extinguish fires and protect the community from any accident that occurs and may endanger the lives of people or important material goods.

His work includes all kinds of emergencies, whether minor or major, such as car accidents, hurricanes, landslides, falls from a height, rescuing lost people, among others, but in the end his priority is to preserve human life.