Further increase in efficiency thanks to "Fire Department 2020
In terms of both fire and natural hazards, 2016 will go down in history as a year of long-term lows. Only three major fires challenged the local emergency services. The "Fire Brigade 2020" program continued to optimize the number of firefighters without compromising on quality.
The year 2016 was again an average year for the fire departments with a total of 12,085 emergency operations (-846 compared to 2015). In the process, 131,074 deployment hours were worked (-10,655 compared to 2015). This is shown in the current Fire Department Annual Report which the Gebäudeversicherung Kanton Zürich (GVZ) has just published.
The fire departments were called out 2,411 times for services and performed 24,975 hours of work. In 2016, a year of calm weather, there were only two natural hazards incidents with a total loss of over 100,000 Swiss francs. Otherwise, the canton of Zurich was spared any major natural disasters in 2016.
Three major fires challenged the emergency services. In the case of fires, there was a slight decrease of 387 operations (-9,193 operating hours compared to 2015). This is due to the fact that fewer major incidents had to be fought in the canton. Major incidents are personnel-intensive and several firefighting organizations are involved in the operations at the same time.
Further optimization in the team
In 2016, the canton of Zurich had 7,388 firefighters, including 775 women. This represents a decrease of 263 members compared to 2015. The decrease is related to the program "Feuerwehr 2020". Thanks to "Firefighters 2020", it was possible to adjust the numbers somewhat downward in many organizations. Nevertheless, no compromises had to be made in terms of operational readiness and mission quality.
Source: GVZ
