Sappers and pumpers

We have been inundated with an email asking about the sappers and pumpers.

The firemen here are called "sapeurs et pompiers" and they do all sorts of useful things. They turn up at car crashes. They do first aid. And they persuade people clingfilmed to traffic lights to go home.

They have these really impressive big red vans that say "emergency service for the injured and asphyxiated", as well as fire engines, of course.

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