On Thursday, Luxembourg's Minister of Interior, Dan Kersch, and the Mayor of the City of Luxembourg, Lydie Polfer, and Alderman Simone Beissel, announced details of the plans for the new National Fire and Rescue Centre (CNIS) which will be located at 3 boulevard Kockelscheuer in Luxembourg-Gasperich, on a 5.2 ha plot belonging to the City of Luxembourg.

The new national fire and rescue centere will be part of the reform of the emergency services, according to the CGDIS law presented on 18 August 2015 in the Chamber of Deputies by Minister Dan Kersch.

The CNIS will gather in a single location the barracks of professional firefighters of the City of Luxembourg (currently situated on the Route d'Arlon), the Rescue Services Department Administration (currently located rue Robert Stümper) with the Central Emergency relief (CSU-112), the National School of Civil Protection (currently located in Schimpach) and the National School of Fire and Rescue Services (currently located in Niederfeulen).

The project is a central element of the reform of the emergency services which plans to bring together all the public emergency services in a new and unique structure in the form of a public institution, managed jointly by the State and municipalities. The CNIS will house the future direction of the public institution, the National Emergency Training Institute and the fire and rescue centre with a territorial jurisdiction including the City of Luxembourg.

The final project is divided into two areas:

Zone I will gather the barracks of professional firefighters and volunteers, the current Administration of the emergency services, the new CSU-112 and the National Emergency Training Institute. Luxembourg City will be client of this part and will pre-finance the work. The State will pay its portion of the financing on the terms included in the agreement of 3 September 2015. The total cost amounts to €121,665,987.62 (including fees and taxes), with the Ville de Luxembourg contributing 55% of the costs:

• The fire and ambulance service of the City of Luxembourg (75,273 m3)
• The "volunteer firemen" (5,905 m3)
• Administration future CGDIS (18,950 m3)
• The National Emergency Training Institute (24,926 m3)
• synergistic areas to common use (54,250 m3)

Zone II include the technical platform with the necessary technical facilities for training and practice training of professional and volunteer firefighters. Construction costs for Zone II are fully taken care of by the State which is the project owner. The total cost amounts to €19,460,203.10 (including fees and taxes):

Construction work is expected to start in September 2016 with the work completed by June 2020.

Photo by Charles Soubry, Copyright Phototheque VDL