Portugal has around 14000 firefighters present at the moment in the country. The European Union has around more than 362,000 professional firefighters present. Most of these firefighters are present in countries like Spain, Germany, and France.
14000 Firefighters Present In Portugal
It is estimated that the number of firefighters has increased in the European Union. Eurostat has indicated that the number of firefighters present in this year is more than the previous year. The total number of firefighters is estimated to be around 362000 in the whole European Union. This figure is 0.18 % of the total number of people that are employed in these countries.
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The exact number of professional firefighters is found out to be 13700 in Portugal. This number has caused Portugal to be ranked at the 9th place among all the member states of European Union. Firefighting is one of the most difficult jobs in the world. People often take intense training to be selected as a firefighter. Normally, the younger and the older people are not chosen for this job.
According to the stats, it is found that more than seven out of ten firefighters are aged between 30 and 49. This makes a 61 % probability that the firefighters lie in this age range. These are further subgrouped according to their ages. It is found that the individuals for this job are found in the following ranges:
- Aged 40 to 44 (65,600 people): The largest group is found to be in this range.
- Aged 35 to 39 (59,100 people): A good number of firefighters also lie in this range.
The list of most firefighters has Germany at the top spot. It has around 61,700 people that makes it the largest number of firefighters among all the EU state members. It is followed by France which has around 47,700 firefighters within the country. The third place goes to Spain who has around 42,100 firefighters present in their country. Portugal comes ninth in this list as 8 countries have higher numbers than that.
Portugal Lost Almost A Third Of Firefighters In Ten Years
The firefighters in Portugal are decreasing with every passing year. This decrease has to be resolved and more people should be hired in this profession. It is stated that around 29000 people were firefighters in the year 2015. 10 years before 2015, there were around almost 42000 people. Right now, this figure lies at 14000. This has been a substantial decrease since 2 decades.
Many firefighters are reported to leave after intense training and tough job schedules. Although, there has been a gradual increase in the salary of the employees. The professionals are estimated to be around a third of this total number. One of the solutions to this problem was to use volunteers. This practice cannot be adopted due to volunteers leaving and working on their own timings. Therefore, it would not be possible to ask for volunteer help. Portugal needs more professional firefighters.
The recent fires in the Portugal have caused a chaos in the country. It is becoming more and more difficult to extinguish the fire. Portugal has also sought help from the other European Union countries. This would not have been done if Portugal had more firefighters present within the country. The government should take measures so fires in Portugal can be handled with ease in future.
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