Chief Commandant of the State Fire Service Senior Brigadier Wiesław Le¶niakiewicz and Chairman of the General Board of the Union of the Volunteer Fire Service of the Republic of Poland (ZOSP RP) Waldemar Pawlak signed an agreement on cooperation between the SFS and the ZOSP RP. The new agreement replacing an agreement concluded on 7 August 2002 specifies the principles of cooperation between the SFS and the ZOSP RP as regards joint actions concerning civil protection, fire safety and rescue.
Services Together
General Director of the Prison Service General Jacek Pomiankiewicz and Chief Commandant of the State Fire Service Senior Brigadier Wiesław Le¶niakiewicz signed an agreement in the headquarters of the Central Board of Prison Service. The goal of the agreement is to provide the best possible execution of the statutory tasks of the organizational units of both services connected with increasing the public security level.
We Are People of the World
Polish firefighters gave the international rescue help to the Armenians for the first time 20 years ago. Later, after the establishment of the State Fire Service large rescue and humanitarian missions followed - there have been 25 of them in total. Senior Capt. Leszek Tana¶, who took part in most of them, describes the missions. Interview by Anna Łańduch.
Armenian Apocalypse
For dozens of thousands of Armenia inhabitants the end of the world took place on Wednesday, 7 December 1988. It was 11.41 am when suddenly their world collapsed and crumbled into millions pieces of destroyed houses, factories, schools and hospitals just within seconds, which seemed to last endlessly. According to the Soviet authorities the piles of debris buried over 50,000 people. Lech Lewandowski describes the disaster, which happened over 20 years ago.
UN State in Poznań
About 10,000 participants from all over the world gathered on the Climate Change Conference COP-14 in Poznań. Providing them with security was a real challenge for many services. Let the numbers speak for themselves: almost 1,500 officers of the Police, the State Fire Service, the Government Protection Bureau and Border Guards were engaged to protect the event. By Tomasz Daszkiewicz, with the help of Piotr Koper.
Warm and Dangerous?
The heating season is on. And although it started relatively recently, the firefighters in the Wielkopolska province have already responded to the incidents caused by malfunctioning heating systems over 300 times. When it comes to misuse of heating devices - there have been almost 400 calls. This is a 50-percent increase from the previous year. By Joanna Małecka.
Miraculously Rescued
Friday morning welcomed the firefighters from Zawiercie with a shocking call notifying them about workers being buried under ground in a sewage ditch. No-one had expected the action to be so complicated and dangerous. The victims were almost four meters under ground, squeezed and totally covered with several tones of heavy wet clay. The chances for finding anyone alive were minimal. By Sławomir Ziębiński.
Prevention for Tacticians Part 4
Extinguishing Time - Zero to Four Hours
Our ancestors, possibly while making up fire during harsh winter, noticed that logs or coal burn out quite quickly. Than they were only a step away from the idea that no fire can last endlessly, since eventually there will be no fuel. This idea turned out to be a cornerstone of the influence of the fire safety on the surroundings. By Paweł Rochala.
Opinions of Fire Expert
Important Tool in the Hands of Law
Finding person who started fire, the place, where it started, the cause of the fire, as well as the factors influencing the development of the fire requires engaging highly qualified experts in those fields, which are causally connected to the incident. Court fire expert (also fire safety expert or fire investigation expert) plays a key role in fire investigation - using his specialist knowledge to help the judicial body establish the cause of a fire. Therefore, fire experts have often influence on the decision concerning given case. By Tomasz Sawicki.
Old City of the Fire Service
The 131th anniversary of establishing Professional Fire Service was commemorated in the City of Poznań. The celebrations included displaying city walls and opening a tourist walking routes. Report by Jerzy Ranecki.
Not Only a Museum
The Royal Castle in Warsaw was bombarded by Germans on 17 September 1939. On one hand this dramatic event was the beginning of the end of the historic building, on the other hand it marked a new stage of its history. Elżbieta Przyłuska writes about the ways of protecting the building from the Elements.
From Air, Fire and War Save Us...
Efficient and comprehensive protection of cultural goods would be actually impossible without the obligatory common education of society in this field. It is important to train regularly not only those people who deal professionally with protection of cultural heritage, but also common citizens fascinated with human achievements. The Training Center for Civil Protection and Protection of Cultural Goods organized in December another course about protection of cultural goods in the case of specific threats. (EP)
Trips for Knowledge
The autumn months of September and October have already become known as the time of international internship programmes in the academic year of the Main School of Fire Service. As it was previously, also last autumn groups of students selected in qualification procedures participated in two-week internship programme in Fire Service Department of the Free City of Hamburg and in one-month internship programme in the United States. By Tomasz Zwęgliński and Adriana Krzemińska.
European Training for Rescuers
Certainly many people wonder whether the rescue techniques used currently will be unified because of our membership of the European Union. The answer may be: “This has already happened” or “Yes - maybe in the near future.” By Jacek Borowski.
Psychologist in the SFS - What will the Future Bring?
It is already sixteenth year when psychologists work within the structures of the State Fire Service. One can wonder about the differences between particular uniformed services as regards stress and how is it possible that there are only several persons providing us with psychological help, who, even working overtime, are unable to meet the requirements which are imposed on them. By Marta Różycka.
How Is This Done in Police?
What contributed to employing psychologists in the Police were random surveys indicating that the profession is stress-inducing and that it is necessary to provide policemen with psychological care directly in the working environment, before first symptoms of difficulties reach a disorder phase. This idea was supported also by Police Women Association, which operated at that time. By Małgorzata Chmielewska.
Shift Work and Night Work in Fire Service
Against Biological Clock
Shift work and night work are an inherent part of the functioning of rescue services. This is connected with the necessity of being active against the circadian sleep-wakefulness rhythm, which is not without impact on health and private life of an employee. What comes along with the specific nature of shift work in fire service? What preventive measures can be taken by management and firefighters on duty in this system? By Aleksander Kucharczyk.
Firefighters'' Blood - Saves Live
In the seat of the Masovia Regional Board of the Polish Red Cross in Warsaw Zbigniew Sosnowski, the undersecretary of state in the Ministry of Administration and Internal Affairs, participated in concluding the 3rd edition of the project of the Polish Red Cross, the State Fire Service and the Union of the Volunteer Fire Service of the Republic of Poland with the motto of “Fiery Rescuer - Hot Blood”. (rom.)
He Dotted the i's
The sports hall of the District HQ of the SFS in Chorzów hosted 14th International Indoor Tournament in Hook Ladder Climbing, the Chorzów Mayor Cup. There were 116 competitors from Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Ukraine. (brom.)
Masters of Tennis Racket
The Town of Złotoryja in the Lower Silesia province hosted the 1st Indoor Polish National Tennis Championships of the Firefighters, Chief Commandant of the SFS's Cup. By Lech Lewandowski.
Unbeatable Szczecin
Last December Choszczno hosted 6th Championships of the West Pomerania Province SFS Firefighters in Swimming. The championships took place on a 25 meter swimming pool with 35 participants from eight SFS district headquarters: Szczecin, Koszalin, Gryfino, Gryfice, Sławno, Pyrzyce, ¦widwin and Choszczno. (popł.)
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