While at the beginning of the partnership the fire department in Dar es Salaam was still organized as a city department and belonged to the City Utilities, a restructuring has since taken place. Today, the fire department is organized on a centralized basis throughout the country and is part of the Ministry of Home affairs as the Fire and Rescue Force.

Compared to Europe, the fire departments are very weak. For example, the entire country currently has only 2,200 professional firefighters. In contrast to European fire departments, a high percentage of the team is made up of women. Often these also provide the new young leadership at the fire stations and are assigned as regional fire chiefs.

But the large city of Dar es Salaam, with about 6 million inhabitants, has only 3 fire stations, often with only 3 water-carrying emergency vehicles. In the countryside, many towns are still without a fire station. There is no thought of timely risk coverage as in Germany. In Dar es Salaam, private security companies fill the gap for their wealthy customers and maintain their own fire-fighting vehicles, which are used in fires for a high fee.

In fact, almost everything is lacking: good, well-founded basic training, specialized training in the areas of hazardous materials and technical assistance, but also emergency vehicles and equipment. There is also no ambulance service in the fire departments, not even good training in first aid. But the motivation is mostly very high. Material assistance and related training are highly welcome.

The collaboration is bearing fruit. In the meantime, firefighters in many parts of the country are equipped and trained in respiratory protection technology; some workshops are still missing. After the disaster of the great flood of 2010, the FRF now also has lifeguards and a diving group. In the field of high-altitude rescue, the first teams and instructors are now in place in Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar. We are still at the beginning in other subject areas.