General meeting of the Bocholt fire brigade

Last Friday, the Bocholt fire brigade held its annual general meeting. The focus was on a review of the 2024 operational year, information on current projects and the promotion of numerous employees.

The meeting was opened by the head of the fire brigade, Dirk Arping, who, after a brief greeting, paid tribute to the deceased members with a minute's silence. Mayor Thomas Kerkhoff then addressed those present. He expressly thanked the emergency services for their great commitment to serving the citizens of Bocholt. He also provided information on the status of important projects: the new fire station in Stenern, the "Crossfire" project and the planned expansion of the fire and rescue station.

"Our fire brigade makes an indispensable contribution to the well-being of our city", said Kerkhoff, "whether in everyday operations, in special challenges such as the sauna fire in the Bahia or in cooperation with our Dutch neighbours - our fire brigade can always be relied on. My special thanks go to all our comrades and their families who make this important service for our community possible."

The review of 2024 was presented by the deputy head of the fire service, Marco Heisterkamp. Together with other colleagues, he presented the focal points of the past year. These included the operational activities, the training activities as a district training station, a training weekend for the volunteer fire service at the fire service institute and the activity reports of various specialist and specialised groups. In addition, the children's fire brigade, the youth fire brigade and the volunteer fire brigade reported on their activities.

At the end of the official part of the event, fire service chief Dirk Arping and his deputies Jörg Telaar and Marco Heisterkamp awarded numerous promotions. Tom Benning, Chris Franke and Justin van Gelder were appointed firefighters. Kira van Marwick was promoted to senior firefighter. Philipp Dekkers, Martin Jansen, Tobias Siecksmeier, Jan te Strote, Chantal Tielmann and Max Uebbing were promoted to junior firefighters. Luke Westermann was promoted to the rank of senior fire chief. Finally, the promotion of Luisa Schumacher to senior fire inspector strengthened another important management position.

"The promotions are not only an expression of personal achievement, but also a sign of the strength and future viability of our fire service", says fire service manager Dirk Arping, "each and every individual contributes with commitment, knowledge and team spirit to ensuring that we meet the high demands of our service. I would like to congratulate all our comrades and thank them for their willingness to take on responsibility."