Fire and Rescue Services Reconfiguration for Better Dealing with Post-Flashover Building Fires

Abstract

The reconfiguration of fire and rescue services is the focus of this research. The main purpose is to propose an alternative organizational model for better dealing with post-flashover building fires. The primary source of empirical information is a survey involving 267 managers from the Bulgarian fire and rescue services to gather insights. The research methodology meticulously encompasses the identification of changes concerning the efficiency and effectiveness of the fire and rescue services, the discernment of inherent challenges, the definition of specific factors and criteria relevant to their activities, and the determination of strategic priorities. The goal is to suggest a new, more efficient way to organize these services in Bulgaria, whose approach can be applicable to other contexts in similar conditions as well. The proposed model suggests that the Bulgarian fire and rescue services should work independently from the Ministry of Interior as the State Agency under the Council of Ministers. In addition, a comparison between this newly proposed model and the current one is conducted to highlight its potential advantages.