Firefighters have had enough of being called heroes by politicians. In risking their lives to save communities from the wildfires spreading across
Europe, their work is obviously heroic. But the term has been cheapened by politicians trying to absolve themselves of decisions that have made their task more difficult and dangerous.
“We don’t want to be called heroes; we want to be given the resources,” said Ludovic Goblet, a union representative for French firefighters.
He was speaking days after new EU data showed that in the worst year on record for wildfires, the number of professional firefighters in Europe fell by 18,000. That included a reduction of over 4,000 in France.
The numbers defy logic. We know that climate change is raising the risk of wildfires. Surely then the resources at the disposal of our fire services should meet the risk they are being asked to face.
