The new outfits distributed to firefighters no longer have reflective strips. The Departmental Fire and Rescue Service evokes reinforced security measures.
The Departmental Fire and Rescue Service (Sdis) has been providing new uniforms for professional firefighters and volunteers for a year. Indeed, the SPF1 uniforms replaced by the TSI uniforms (for “service and intervention clothing”). This change aims to “modernize the old military outfit used for forty years and that came to an end,” says the commander David Roux.
The end of the reflective strips makes react
The Directorate of Civil Security, attached to the Ministry of the Interior, has made several adjustments to propose an outfit being modern, comfortable and ergonomic. But apart from the shape of the collar and the trousers, the absence of reflective strips near the shoulders and ankles challenges.
And a volunteer firefighter, Chief Warrant Officer Luc Darden, jumped up: “When we come to an accident and get out of the truck, the first thing we put on the ground is the foot. “Without reflective tape on the lower limbs, firefighter Braid fears for his safety and that of his colleagues while they are brought to intervene in villages sometimes not provided with public lighting:” I am afraid that motorists do not see any more firefighters on the roadsides, especially at night, and there are deaths. As a team leader, when we go to six I want us all to come back. ”
The two reflective strips placed at the height of the shoulders and legs met the high visibility standards of yesteryear, but “these have evolved,” says Commander Roux. A dramatic event notably upset the precautions taken in terms of visibility and safety in a general way. On November 29, 2002, five firefighters died during a road accident, all mowed by a car launched at nearly 160 km / h on a limited portion of 90 km / h.
The Ministry of the Interior then entrusted Colonel Christian Porn, head of the Civil Protection Inspectorate, with the task of studying and making proposals to improve the active and passive safety of the workers. The recommendations include improved visibility of personnel and vehicles in intervention.
No bands but a reflective vest
New recommendations made in terms of high visibility and in addition to a reinforced markup and new instructions addressed to fire and rescue centers in case of intervention on public roads, the firefighters equipped with yellow or red reflective vests that they put on over their TSI or SPF1 outfit.
“The vest ensures the safety of the agents and the visibility of the latter is ensured as long as they are in their vehicle thanks to the markup (a perimeter of security is assured thanks to cones),” pleads the commander David Roux, while specifying that the reflective materials have not disappeared on the outfits used to fight fires.
Finally, the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service specifies that the new TSI outfits are made from fireproof materials and that the number of closures and pockets has been revised upwards.