The Fire and Rescue services are in charge of preventing, extinguishing, and preventing the spread of fires; as well as rescuing people and salvaging property. The firefighters deal with fires in homes and open spaces; handle hazardous substances; rescue victims from road accidents; and any other life and property saving scenario.
The Fire and Rescue Commission operates under the authority of the Ministry of Public Security. The Minister of Public Security is the minister in charge of appointing the Fire and Rescue Commissioner. Currently, the commissioner is Shahar Ayalon.
The Ministry of Public Security is forming a centralized vision of public security, in which the public security responsibilities would be integrated under one roof: The Ministry of Public Security. According to this forming perception, all the authorities dealing with the field of public security will be integrated into the ministry, including the firefighting alignment.
Background
According to the Firefighting Services law of 1959, the Fire and Rescue services are in charge of putting out and preventing fire, as well as rescuing people and property. The fire and rescue services are municipal services, provided within the framework of municipal unions and municipal firefighting units, and they are in charge of incidents that occur withing their juristiction.
The Structure of the Firefighting Alignment in Israel
The Fire and Rescue services in Israel are made up of 24 authorities, 20 of which are municipal unions for fire and rescue services, and four which are municipal divisions. The firefighting services are spread across 95 fire stations all over the country.
The service is headed by a commander, who is responsible for the daily operational implementation of the service, and who is subjected to the management of the firefighting authority.
As of 2011 there were a total of 1,900 firefighters, engineers and administrative workers in the fire and rescue services.