Bocholt renews fire service agreement with Dutch partners

The fire services from Bocholt and Südlohn and their Dutch neighbours will continue to support one another during operations. On Friday, 6 November 2026, the town of Bocholt, the municipality of Südlohn and the Veiligheidsregio Noord- en Oost-Gelderland (VNOG) signed renewed agreements on cross-border assistance in Winterswijk. These agreements are designed to ensure that assistance reaches the border region quickly, regardless of which side of the border an emergency occurs on.

First Councillor Björn Volmering signed on behalf of the town of Bocholt, whilst Mayor Markus Lask signed on behalf of the municipality of Südlohn. On the Dutch side, the agreement was signed by Ton Heerts, Chairman of the VNOG, the Mayor of Winterswijk, Baukje Dijkstra, and the Mayor of Aalten, Anton Stapelkamp. The heads of the participating fire services were also present at the signing: Dirk Arping for Bocholt, Hendrik Tenk for Südlohn and Gerard Bouwmeester, Director and Regional Commander of the VNOG.

The agreements govern mutual assistance in the event of fires, accidents and other emergencies in the border region. The cooperation itself has been in place for a long time. As early as 2003, the town of Bocholt and the then still independent municipality of Dinxperlo - which today forms part of Aalten - had reached agreements on mutual assistance. In 2006, Winterswijk and Südlohn concluded a similar agreement. Since the introduction of the Veiligheidsregio, the VNOG has been responsible for fire safety in the region in the Netherlands. The agreements have therefore now been adapted to reflect current responsibilities. The basis for this is a model agreement drawn up by the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security and the Ministry of the Interior of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. Among other things, it regulates the deployment of fire brigades, the alerting procedure and coordination between the parties.

In day-to-day operations, this is particularly evident in Dinxperlo, which borders directly on the Bocholt district of Suderwick, and in parts of the outskirts of Winterswijk. When an emergency call is received, one Dutch and one German fire engine are routinely dispatched to these areas. Whichever unit arrives on the scene first begins to provide assistance. As a result, help can sometimes begin several minutes earlier.

"Fire knows no borders. Nor do other dangers stop at a national border", said Björn Volmering at the signing ceremony. "When people are in distress, it must not matter which side of a national border they are on. What must matter is that they are helped - quickly, professionally and with a shared awareness of our responsibility."

Volmering also spoke about the close ties between the Westmünsterland and the Achterhoek, which extend far beyond cooperation between local authorities and fire services. For many people in the region, it is part of everyday life to live on one side of the border and work on the other, visit friends or spend their leisure time there. He thanked the fire service personnel and local authority staff who make this cooperation possible on a day-to-day basis. He said that the renewed signing was more than just the renewal of a formal agreement: ""It is also a commitment to a partnership that has stood the test of time and which we wish to develop further in the face of increasingly complex crises and hazards.""