The Marseille Naval Fire Battalion (, or ''BMPM''), is the fire and rescue service for the city of

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. The battalion is a branch of the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

(), and consists of fully military personnel, like the Paris Fire Brigade (a branch of the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

), and PGHM (a branch of the

French Gendarmerie The National Gendarmerie ( ) is one of two national law enforcement forces of France, along with the National Police. The Gendarmerie is a branch of the French Armed Forces placed under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior, with ad ...

). Nearly half of all candidates fail the battalion's rigorous training program.

Mission

CCF sur base Unimog des marins pompiers de Marseille

# Fire Suppression on land and at sea # Emergency Ambulance # Utility Safety- Gas leaks, etc. # Personnel Assistance: Victims services, SAR, prehospital care # Motor Vehicle Collision assistance # Property protection # Fire and Rescue Patrol, Reconnaissance and Scouting # Animal Rescue # Pollution control and response # Alarm response

History

Formed by Royal Order on 14 August 1719 as the Marseille Arsenal Fire Battalion and its jurisdiction was expanded on 25 September 1816 to include the ''Ville de Marseille'' (City of Marseille). On 22 March 1838 its size was fixed as a battalion of five companies and on 14 December 1962, its jurisdiction was expanded to include the port of Marseille and the ''Marseille-Provence Marignane'' International Airport. The battalion of Naval Fire Marseille was created by a decree dated 29 July 1939, following the 28 October 1938 fire of the New Galleries, located on the Canebière, which caused the death of 73 people . Edouard Daladier, Prime Minister, observes the professionalism of the Toulon marine brigade and the quality of their equipment. He decides to entrust the security of Marseille to a military unit. The Decree-Law of 23 July 1939 is the "birth" of Marseille Naval Fire Battalion and begins with this: "It's created a Marseille Marine Fire unit. This battalion and the services attached to it are controlled by a senior naval officer ... " The Marseille Naval Fire Brigade has today a military status and is commanded by a vice-admiral.

Resources

The BMPM consists of 2,400 personnel and 700 vehicles. In 2009, the BMPM responded to 118,000 operations and to 108 000 in 2010. In 2011, it carried 111,700 interventions, an average of 285 per day, approximately one every 5 minutes, with more than two thirds regarding the "rescue victim" (prehospital care).

Corporate organisation

The battalion is commanded by a naval

flag officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which that officer exercises command. Different countries use the term "flag officer" in different ways: * ...

(currently

Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

Charles-Henri Garié) as part of the

garrison. He reports to the

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

, the

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

and the Mayor of Marseille. Thus, rank insignia follow the French Navy practice.

External links

Official Website in French only
{{coord missing, France Fire departments of France Ambulance services in France Organizations based in Marseille French naval components Military units and formations established in 1719 1719 establishments in France Military fire departments

Mission

History

Resources

Corporate organisation

See also

External links