-
Why are firefighters striking in France today?
‘Every seven seconds, firefighters are called’
-
'The fire was so fierce behind us': A Var resident’s account of the wildfire
The family packed their bags, neighbours took turns keeping watch, and evacuated residents found shelter as the wildfire swept through the area
-
Hikers in French Pyrenees hospitalised after drinking mountain water
Why water from a mountain stream is not always safe to drink from and how to avoid dehydration
Can you call pompiers from UK?
I know the key French emergency telephone numbers, eg. 18 for the pompiers. What if I had to call them from the UK (for an elderly relative living there) – could I do it? G.G.
While in France you can, as you say, call 18 for the pompiers, 15 for the Samu (ambulance), 17 for police and gendarmes, or indeed 112, the universal European emergency number (which will redirect you to a local call handler, usually in France, either based with the pompiers or Samu, depending on which department you are in).
If you need to contact local French emergency services for the area where your relative is, the best bet would be to do a web search and note down the landline numbers for the municipal or national police commissariat, gendarmerie, fire station and Samu.
They usually have ordinary geographical numbers (eg. starting with 02 for the north-west or 05 for the south-west).
