Skopje, 15 August 2023 (MIA) — The country does not have enough firefighters, with an average age of 48 and local fire departments operating at 50-percent capacity, the Independent Union of Firefighters said in a press release calling on the government to help.

"The situation is alarming," the press release says. "The departments employ somewhere around 50 percent of the legal minimum, while the average age of employees in several units is about 48. If this issue is not resolved soon, some of the units in the next five years will be left without any experienced staff who should be educating new coworkers."

The insufficient number of firefighters diminishes their efforts to save people's lives and property. It also endangers the health and safety of the firefighters trying to compensate for the lack of personnel, according to the union.

"We now must resort to appealing directly to the government and other competent institutions to urgently start solving this problem before it is too late," the release says. mr/