It started on the first of May.

The district fire brigade association Frankfurt am Main, one of the most influential district fire brigade associations in Germany, publishes a remarkable announcement.

In it, the chairman Dirk Rübesamen expressed fears of drastic financial cuts for the fire protection system in the Main metropolis by the magistrate, which would not least endanger the safety of the citizens of Frankfurt.

On May 4th, Rübesamen agreed to answer questions from this newspaper about the feared cuts.

On the same day, Uwe Selke, spokesman for fire-fighting policy for the CDU parliamentary group in the Hessian state parliament, reported in a statement that the guaranteed amount for fire protection in Hesse would be increased to a new “record level” of 43 million euros in 2022.

On Thursday, Rübesamen withdraws its willingness to be interviewed.

From the Römer, the advisor to the head of the regulatory affairs department Annette Rinn (FDP) then announced on Friday that, after detailed internal discussions, they wanted to wait for the annual general meeting of the association at the weekend before commenting on the association’s fears.

For this he was praised by the head of department by e-mail with "superbly done".

The district fire brigade association day 2022, which takes place on Saturday, May 7th,

Especially at the moment, when the members of the volunteer fire brigades also have to do a lot of extra work due to the flood in the Ahr valley, the construction of corona test centers and much more, cuts would hit the fire brigades in Hesse hard.

This topic in particular should be discussed at the District Fire Brigade Association Day 2022 in Nieder-Erlenbach.

According to the association, the professional fire brigade and volunteer fire brigades are an “indispensable part” of the security architecture of the Main metropolis.

A cut endangers the public and the safety of citizens in Frankfurt.

In a message from May 1st, the association is even more drastic: “Do politicians really want these consequences??!!”.

Member of Parliament Uwe Serke (CDU) also takes this criticism seriously.

Firefighters were not prone to exaggeration,

Will the fire brigade dry up?

If you take a look at the coalition agreement of the Frankfurt magistrate, fire protection is written very small there.

The word only appears twice.

But the coalition makes many suggestions to improve the life and work of firefighters.

It is about "better tax conditions" for company apartments for comrades, modern equipment, high-quality training courses, and "intensive work with young people" in which one wants to "support the associations".

The associations, on the other hand, apparently feel little support.

However, the sudden backtracking of the association chairman and the praise of the fire protection officer for her speaker raises special questions.

Contrary to an initial promise and a statement in other newspapers after the internal discussion with department head Rinn, Rübesamen suddenly no longer wants to comment on the announcement from his association on May 1st.

The fact that he and the head of the Frankfurt fire brigade, Karl-Heinz Frank, are city officials certainly doesn't make it any easier for the association to push through its cause.

After a request from this newspaper, Frank also only refers to his duty of confidentiality and therefore "does not want to take a position on internal administrative processes".

The meeting of the district fire brigade association should create clarity here.

Rübesamen finds drastic words in his welcome speech: "If the water no longer flows in the hoses of the fire brigades, then we have a big problem.

We need planning security in civil protection.” At first glance, the association has achieved its goals.

Head of department Rinn then promises: "There will be no austerity measures with me at the expense of the fire department".

The city must ensure that the training quotas are kept high and “train for Frankfurt”.

This includes "that of course the budget is not cut".

"We need butter for the fish"

Markus Heuser, spokesman for the fire brigade association, does not want to accept that.

"Now people talk their way out of it, it's because the posts weren't clearly identified enough.

Will that be corrected now?

Is it better stated?

We haven't heard anything about that." In view of the increasing number of crises, what is needed is a strengthening of the fire brigade and civil protection, also financially.

“In principle, these were just political phrases, nothing else.

Red lines are being crossed here and we will not accept that.”

About the department head's guarantee that there will be no austerity measures, Heuser says: "The department communicated the cuts to the fire department in discussions.

No head of department thinks that up.”

And what if Heuser is right and the cuts are implemented after all?

"Then we reserve the right to take the next step and act as an association under private law, draw attention to ourselves, keep going to the media until the promises are kept." If everything, as the head of department promises, was a misunderstanding, then that must be the case now be clarified.

"We need butter for the fish, a conversation next week where it will be said, where is the promised money?"

The dispute over the budget of the Frankfurt city fire brigade also persists after the association meeting.

Rinn assures the fire department that it will not make any budget cuts.

Now the magistrate has to deliver.

What is needed: Clarification as to how this “misunderstanding” came about and a watchful eye to see whether the city's promises are being implemented.