In each department, a public establishment is created, called the “departmental fire and rescue service”, which includes a departmental fire brigade, composed under the conditions provided for in article L. 1424-5 .
The departmental fire and rescue service may also include a fire and rescue service citizen’s reserve defined in section 2 of chapter IV of title II of book VII of the internal security code.
This public establishment is organised into fire and rescue centres and services, which may be grouped together into groups and sub-directorates. In particular, it has a health subdirectorate, comprising at least one health and medical rescue service.
It may enter into any agreement with local authorities or their public establishments relating to the non-operational management of the fire and rescue service.
The public establishments defined in this chapter that carry out their missions within the jurisdiction of the State’s departmental administrative districts and come under the authority of authorities with special status constitute the territorial fire and rescue services.
Local fire and rescue services are communal or inter-communal fire brigades, organised into first response centres, which come under communes or public establishments for inter-communal cooperation.
The operational response procedures for local fire and rescue services are determined by the operational regulations governed by article L. 1424-4, after consultation with the municipalities and public establishments for inter-municipal cooperation concerned.
Relationships between the departmental or territorial fire and rescue service and local fire and rescue services that do not relate to operational response procedures, the conditions under which communes and public establishments for inter-communal cooperation may build, acquire or lease the property necessary for their operation and the participation of the departmental or territorial fire and rescue service in the operation of their first response centres are set out in an agreement between the commune or public establishment for inter-communal cooperation and this service.