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Firefighters in France launch new strike action: why are they striking and will it affect you?
‘Every seven seconds, firefighters are called’
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Two boa constrictors found on loose within three days in Haute-Garonne
One snake was found in a car engine when the driver opened the bonnet to change the battery
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Technical issue impacts SAMU emergency phone number, 15, in Franche-Comté
People in the departments of Doubs, Haute-Saône, Jura and the Territoire de Belfort are urged to call 18 or 112 instead
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).
