Danish Forces in call: We need 1.3 billion [dollars/euros]

The world has undergone significant changes in the past few years.

It has gone through a pandemic, there is war in Europe, cyber attacks are not uncommon, the green transition brings more electric cars and new energy plants. And climate change shows itself more frequently from its ominous side at home.

All these changes put a strain on municipal preparedness.

This is what Danske Beredskaber, an association of all municipal fire departments, believes.

Therefore, they should be significantly supported when a new emergency preparedness agreement is expected to be in place before Christmas, says secretary general of Danske Beredskaber, Bjarne Nigaard.

- We have made a professional assessment of the backlog we have in relation to the tasks we can see around us.

- Our best offer is that we should receive an additional 1.3 billion Danish crowns for the municipal emergency response services to keep up.

The 1.3 billion Danish crowns, according to Danske Beredskaber, would represent a doubling of the current budget.

The money would go towards training current employees, hiring more, exercises and purchasing new equipment that can handle the new challenges, explains Bjarne Nigaard.

- It requires different materials if there is more water, and it can require different materials to handle an electric car on fire or a Power-to-X, which is about to explode.

- And it also requires a different analysis capacity and insight into what it is, if our digitized society is exposed to an attack, and we lack essential infrastructure for a period.

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No promises for the municipal sector

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These days, negotiations are being held on a new agreement in the emergency preparedness sector. It is the Minister for Social Affairs and Emergency Preparedness, Torsten Schack Pedersen (V), who is leading the negotiations.

Torsten Schack Pedersen has not wanted to give an interview to DR News while the negotiations are ongoing. He writes in a reply:

- We have started negotiations on an agreement in the emergency preparedness sector. With this agreement, we will take the decisive next steps towards a stronger collective emergency preparedness across the entire society.

At Lolland Falster Fire Department, some stations have received new equipment for example to combat fires in electric cars. But it is far from all stations in the area that have such equipment. See the video here.

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'I have great difficulty seeing that it is to the benefit of the citizens'

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Danske Beredskaber, however, thinks that what the minister is proposing is a wrong strategy.

Local fire departments primarily respond to the most frequent incidents with short response times (https://beredskab.dk/om-os/redningsberedskabet/), while the Danish Emergency Management Agency assists fire departments, police and other authorities in larger, longer-lasting or manpower-intensive incidents.

Bjarne Nigaard does not understand the prioritization.

- I have great difficulty seeing that it is to the benefit of the citizens, that one strengthens the emergency preparedness that has the longest response time. It is close to the citizens that there is a need for quick help, if something goes wrong.

According to figures from Danske Beredskaber, the municipal fire department is called out to around 40,000 incidents a year, while the Danish Emergency Management Agency is in the vicinity of 300 incidents.

But shouldn't every small fire station in Denmark be equipped to handle an explosion at a Power-to-X plant?

- We must adapt our emergency preparedness to the risks we see in the vicinity. So if there are no risks, we can well have the scaled-down version we have today.

- It is also the reason why we estimate that approximately twenty percent of the fire stations we have in Denmark should be upgraded, as there are risks in the vicinity.

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.