The Dortmund Fire Department consists of approximately 2,200 career and volunteer firefighters, making it the sixth-largest fire department in Germany. With more than 150,000 emergency responses per year, this means an alarm is triggered approximately every four minutes, whether at one of the nine career fire and rescue stations, within one of the 21 volunteer fire units, or at one of the thirteen EMS stations and seven paramedic response bases throughout the city.
In addition, the Dortmund Fire Department operates several specialized units, including divers, high-angle rescue teams, a heavy rescue task force, hazardous materials (HAZMAT) units, an analytical task force, communications specialists, and a fire boat.
GAL 131, which stands for the 131st “Grundausbildungslehrgang” (Basic Training Course) in Dortmund, consists of 16 men and one woman. We are currently undergoing an 18-month training program to become professional firefighters, which is comparable to the American Firefighter Academy. Prior to this, we all completed a three-year paramedic training program, similar to the U.S. Paramedic certification.
Their class emblem, the hippopotamus, originated from a joke during a swim training session when one of our instructors jokingly referred to us as hippos. The nickname stuck and became our official symbol over time. Upon completing our training, we will be assigned to fire stations across Dortmund based on department needs. Unlike in some other countries, firefighters in Germany do not have permanently assigned positions; instead, our roles rotate with each shift. This means that one day, a firefighter may serve as the driver/operator of a fire engine, the next day as part of the interior attack crew, and another day as a paramedic on an ambulance.