Fire Seneschalcy of Burgundie

Fire Seneschalcy of Burgundie
Senechaussie de Burgundie Pompiers
Guidon of the Fire Seneschalcy of Burgundie
Founded	1826
Country	Burgundie
Type	Firefighters, Incident management teams, and Infantry (Reserve)
Size	16,500
Part of	Army of Burgundie
Patron	Saint Florien
Commanders
Pasqual I	Colonel-in Chief
Divisio General	Jauffre-Claude Eric de Beluelle

The Fire Seneschalcy of Burgundie is the unit of the Army of Burgundie that exercises the following coordinating authority in Burgundian territory:

• multi-jurisdictional fire responses
• fire safety and preparedness
• fire safety inspections of government buildings
• fire fighting for "critical infrastructure" and military bases

The administration of these tasks is divided into prefectures that align with the Prefectures of Police and Emergency Management. As civil servants, the seneschals report to the Fire Serjeant-at-arms (Burg: Sergent d’arme) who in turn reports to the Minister of the Interior. However, since the Seneschalcy oversees emergency response operations they also report to the Chief of Staff of the Security Forces. Historically, since the firefighting capability was part of the purview of the provincial militia all firefighters, including the officers of the Seneschalcy, are trained as combat engineers and must maintain an annual quota training as a debt of honor. While there training is less frequent than even reserve training requirements, all fire departments can be seconded to the Army of Burgundie in the event of an invasion, as combat ready engineer squadrons.

The office and dignity of the Fire Seneschalcy were created in 1826, during the Northern Levantine Mediatization War, to unify command of firehouses (civil administrator) and the Provincial Militia (Colonel). The Seneschalcy was originally created when fire departments were not common and civilians and the militias were tasked with fighting fires. In the latter part of the 19th-century insurance companies created firehouses and the fire prefects were tasked with regulating street brawls between rival companies. After the formalization of municipal and sovereign fire departments, the seneschals took on a coordination role, primarily for mutual aid and trans-jurisdictional dispatching.

Each prefect has a Fire Seneschal who oversees coordination and inspecting but does not have the authority to command individual departments or companies. These Seneschals generally have a staff of three, each one manning an 8-hour shift at the Prefecture Watch Center with their Police and Emergency Management counterpart, while the Seneschal works during the day to conduct inspections.

History

Vigiles

Organisation

The division is commanded by a Divisional General as part of the Army of Burgundie's engineering arm. The division commander directly controls the Information and Public Relations Bureau, and who is assisted a Colonel-Adjutant, a General Council called a Cabinet and a Chief of Staff who controls the following Bureaus:

• General Studies Bureau
• Financial Programs and Budget Bureau

and three Assistant Chiefs of Staff:

• Assistant Chief for Employment
  • Operations Bureau
  • Formation and Instruction Bureau
  • Prevention Bureau
• Assistant Chief for Logistics
  • Techniques Service
  • Infrastructure Service
  • Administrative Service
  • Telecommunications and Information Service
• Assistant Chief for Human Resources
  • Human resources Bureau
  • Personnel Welfare Bureau
• Chief Doctor
  • Emergency medical service
  • Chief of the Health Service

Operational staff are divided into six geographic regiments (Burg: Coronelon}, as well as a training group and a services group. The geographic groups are:

• First Firefighting Engineer Regiment – Isle of Burgundie
• Second Firefighting Engineer Regiment – Ultmar
• Third Firefighting Engineer Regiment – Flordeterra
• Fourth Firefighting Engineer Regiment – Burgundian Dericania
• Fifth Firefighting Engineer Regiment – Levantine Ocean Territories
• Sixth Firefighting Engineer Regiment – Southern Hemispheric Territories

Each of the geographic regiment consists of 6 fire battalions (Burgundian language: Battalon) and a few special companies (Burgundian language: centarmes) that are not part of a battalion (including ambulance units). Each battalion consists of 5 companies, which in turn consist of 2-4 fire stations.

Training Group

The Training Group provides education and training to all Seneschal firefighters. It consists of the following:

• Group Staff
• EMS
• Center for Formation and Cadres
• Center for the Instruction of Recruits
  • Basic Training Company
  • Auto School, driving and repairs
• Support Company

International partnerships

• Royal Arcerion Fire Service
• International Corps of Incident Commanders, Fire Engineers, HAZMATeuers, Search and Rescueuers, and Response Logisticians (Burg: Ceurps Internationale des Commendants des crises, pompiers-sapeurs, HAZMATeuers, guardiens des Vitale, et Logisticiens des crises)

See also

Local fire departments are called Burgoignesc Gentlemen Firemen's Clubs (Burg: Societates des Pompiers Cavaliers Burgoignesc), stemming from the tradition of gens des mejans forming posh social clubs that would gather to fight fires and then celebrate with a real smash up of a drinking party. Typically paid for by the fire insurance company in lieu of the community paying for a full time fire department.