The Tragic Details of the Troublesome Suicide of Firefighters / 26 Firefighters Ended Their Lives

The report cites an example of a suicide attempt among firefighters: "Sandrine, exhausted from the COVID crisis management and multiple tensions within her unit, was verbally attacked by her team members in a meeting in September 2022. Her superiors took no action and allowed it to happen. For her, this was the breaking point, and she decided to end her life."

This former firefighter, now 54 years old, told the media: "This suffering had to end. I had prepared myself to do it. I knew where to go and where I could jump from."

She said that just before her suicide attempt, one of her colleagues saw her opening the window and immediately called for help, saving her life.

A year later, Sandrine filed a lawsuit against her superiors for psychological harassment, but the investigation did not yield any results. She first took a leave of absence, then faced several health issues, including shoulder inflammation and skin problems. The anxiety was so severe that when she approached her former workplace, her legs would shake. She has since changed her residence and job.

However, Radio France quotes experts who state that the reported figures are lower than the actual numbers, and suicide is considered a "taboo" topic among firefighters, meaning they rarely talk about it.

Experts believe that not all suicides are officially recorded.

At the National Fire and Rescue Services Conference held on Wednesday, March 12 (22 Esfand), the Civil Security Inspection Department released new statistics showing that over the past six years, 273 firefighters have either committed suicide or attempted suicide. This suicide rate among firefighters, regardless of the causes, has long been requested by workers' union representatives from the government, and the French Ministry of the Interior has been responding to this request since 2017.

The first official data in 2018 showed 24 suicides, peaking in 2022 with nearly 30. The Civil Security Department now believes that this rate is decreasing, with only 26 suicides recorded in 2024.

This data indicates a decline in the suicide rate among firefighters over the past three years, and for a similar number of personnel, firefighters commit suicide less frequently than police officers and gendarmes. However, the Civil Security Department states that it can only gather data transferred to them by local fire and rescue services and has no access to other data.

The number of firefighters has remained steady, but their average age is rising. At the same time, the population of France has grown and aged.

The number of fire service interventions has increased from 3.5 million to 5 million per year, while the number of fire stations has decreased by 30%. As a result, the average response time has increased by two and a half minutes over the past decade. A union official named Manuel Colette states, "This is an average, but in rural areas, the response time reaches more than 20 minutes."

The total budget for fire and rescue services in 2024 reached 5.3 billion euros, compared to 6.5 billion euros in 2021. The Ministry of the Interior is currently searching for new financial sources for this sector.

While suicide may have various causes, the French Administrative Court has often established a link between it and the profession. However, legal proceedings to prove these cases are often lengthy, and not everyone has the capacity to pursue them.

Firefighters in France are not just firefighters; they also perform various duties, including medical assistance and rescue operations during natural and unforeseen disasters. Many firefighters, especially in Paris and Marseille, are considered part of the military.