Préfet Délégué Serge Gouteyron and President Daniel Gibbs inspect a guard of honour at the La Savane Fire Station.
MARIGOT--President Daniel Gibbs has given the go-ahead for five young volunteer firefighters from the St. Martin fire station to train with professional firefighters from the Guadeloupe Fire Department.
Once their training has been completed, the five young firemen will be able to integrate as professional firemen in the new Fire and Rescue Centre of St. Martin which will be created by the end of this year.
The St. Martin fire station is currently undergoing a major restructuring process. The Collectivité, which supports the fire station’s budget to the tune of three million euros per year, has financed the recruitment and training of 12 professional firefighters through competitive examinations in 2019 and has the possibility of recruiting five professional firefighters without competitive examination.
Gibbs chose to give these young people from St. Martin a chance to acquire a profession and to work for the safety of the inhabitants, the Collectivité said. The five firefighters have been working at the fire station as volunteers for more than three years and have satisfied their superiors in regard to their professional qualities.
They have all successfully passed a physical aptitude test, enabling them to join the Vieux-Habitants Departmental Training Centre in Guadeloupe for the one-year training course. They will then join the new Fire and Rescue Centre by the end of their internship to complete the operational team serving the population of St. Martin.
President Gibbs and Senator Annick Pétrus are assuring the competence and autonomy of the future Fire and Rescue Centre of St. Martin and wished the five firefighters a successful year of training in Guadeloupe.
