Reorganizing an existing volunteer fire station network in Germany

Dirk Degel, Lara Wiesche, Sebastian Rachuba and Brigitte Werners

Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 2014, vol. 48, issue 2, 149-157

Abstract: Volunteer fire departments have been founded to ensure public safety in case of fire and to provide support for professional firefighters. Most of the current stations date back to the beginning of the 19th century. Today, volunteer fire departments face numerous challenges, such as reduced number of following young volunteers or decreasing public budgets. We quantify these effects and identify different alternatives, such as relocating or closing of stations to minimize the impact on rescue service supply. Based on comprehensive case studies in Bochum, Germany it is apparent that these recommendations provide an excellent toolset for a prospective planning approach.

Keywords: Volunteer fire departments; Location; Demographic changes; Decreasing budgets; Covering models; Real world case study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:soceps:v:48:y:2014:i:2:p:149-157

DOI: 10.1016/j.seps.2014.03.001

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