Copenhagen Fire Brigade

The Fire Brigade’s task is to prevent, limit and relieve injury to persons and damage to property and the environment in the event of accidents and disaster.

Of course, our first priority is to extinguish fires, clear up after chemical spills, deal with traffic accidents, rescue those who have got into difficulties in the water and other incidents that require speedy and timely action on our part. However, we don't merely check and control, we also work actively in the field of consultancy so that residents, businesses and institutions in Copenhagen are better able to take care of their own safety.

Copenhagen Fire Brigade has to be at the forefront of development when it comes to future preparedness and being a formidable co-player in Copenhagen Municipality's vision of a robust municipality. Our goal is to be the municipality’s centre of knowledge in the field of preparedness and safety.

Copenhagen Fire Brigade is an autonomous institution under the umbrella of Copenhagen Municipality. With 500 fire and ambulance personnel, 35 employees in the preventative division and 150 employees in the administration and service divisions, it is Denmark’s largest municipal fire brigade.

The tasks of the Fire Brigade
Copenhagen is an exciting and bustling city. The Metro, Ørestad and the city’s old buildings, worthy of preservation, are all crucial aspects of the Fire Brigade’s work. Therefore, our emergency preparedness is constantly being adapted. We develop and purchase new equipment and train our personnel so that they are able to handle even the most difficult rescue tasks. This also places special demands on the organisation of the fire brigade – it must be dynamic and adaptable – so that we are at the cutting edge in terms of function and effectiveness at all times.

Copenhagen Fire Brigade is in a state of preparedness 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and our core services include:

The Alarm and Control Room, Fire Prevention, Civil Contingency Planning, Fire and Rescue Service, Ambulance Service and Transportation of Patients.

Other tasks
Copenhagen Fire Brigade also performs a number of other inspection and security tasks:

• Callouts to automatic fire alarm activations
• Callouts to municipal burglar alarm activations
• Various types of assistance in the field of 24-hour care and administration in Copenhagen Municipality

Collaboration with others in the areas of emergency preparedness and joint action
We collaborate closely with, for instance, Frederiksberg Fire Brigade on joint initiatives across municipal boundaries, the police and the police intelligence service, the Great Belt Tunnel, the Øresund connection and the Metro (this requires extra emergency preparedness due to its particular access conditions) and the Capital Region of Copenhagen.

Establishment of companies’ Own preparedness
We have entered into cooperation agreements with 29 Copenhagen companies on the training of their own emergency preparedness in the form of assistant smoke-helmeted firemen and knowledge of fire prevention.

Economy
The Fire Brigade is a contract-based institution under the auspices of the Finance Administration and consequently refers directly to Copenhagen Municipality's Emergency Preparedness Commission and the Financial Committee.