Jan Breitscheidel, Chairman of the Polish Chimney Sweep Corporation, talks with Anna Łańduch about the condition of polish chimneys, quality of chimney sweep services, protection of the profession and what can be done to decrease the number of carbon monoxide victims.
Suicide Girl Rescued
Monday, a sad rainy morning typical for November. A routine shift. Suddenly an alarm goes off! The dispatcher informs about a young suicide girl who had jumped from a bridge into the Vistula and was drowning in the river. Water rescuers from Włocławek swing into dramatic but, fortunately, successful action; described by Paweł Frątczak.
Fire Gutted Historic Mill
18 July 2006, 7:55am: it is going to be another day of a long drought. A shift change in a fire and rescue unit of the SFS in Tuchola is about to take place in just 5 minutes. Nothing suggests that the everyday ritual of a shift change could be disturbed - but it happens indeed. Several minutes later firefighters from both shifts struggle with the fire of a historic mill. Report by Krzysztof Łangowski.
Incident on Railway Track
On 27 September, at 5pm in Koziegłowy near Poznań, on a route Płock - Dolna Odra, a freight train carrying 29 tankers filled with fuel oil had an accident. Each tanker contained 40 tons of the oil. Three tankers derailed, two of them stood across the railway track and the other one collapsed and lay there with outer shell damaged. Not only dozens of litres of oil leaked in the first stage, but the whole content of the tanker threatened to leak. Jerzy Ranecki describes the action, which required perfect coordination between the firefighters and the railway rescue service.
Service not Always Fragrant
In the middle of the village Przywory Duże near Siedlce two municipality workers carrying out installation check up got stuck in a deep drain filled with sewage. During the removal of a clog, which grew in the pipe running into the drain, the sewage suddenly flew out and immediately filled the drain. The firefighters from the 2nd fire and rescue unit in Siedlce claim the rescue action was doubly difficult: they were called to save lives and the size of the drain and the fittings inside prevented rescuer from any movement. (own info)
Dangerous in Safety
Maybe the modern custody in Piotrków is not a representative but definitely an interesting example of fire safety system in such a specific place as prison. Contrary to press releases most of protection measures is typical here, just as the dangers are typical for prison. The fire risk is high due to the specific character of all prison buildings; it is essential to examine the fire risk in every one of them separately and to impose appropriate fire safety measures. One of the basic problems is to integrate the system of building fire safety with the general safety and protection system; it is similarly complex to determine priorities in the integrated safety. Additional risks result from the confined character of the prison buildings as well as from very limited evacuation options in case of fire. (own info)
n Live-fire exercises in a building with a high risk of a serious industrial failure
Chlorine Cloud Over Bydgoszcz
Chlorine leak and a fire of a tank filled with fractions from the production of Epichlorohydrin: that is a dangerous scenario of chemical breakdown exercised by the firefighters from the Kujawy-Pomerania province. By Paweł Frątczak.
NEMO '33 - Unique Swimming Pool
News from Brussels usually concentrate on what happened in the Headquarters of NATO or European Commision, namely buildings associated with the capital city of the uniting Europe. Beside those important organizations as well as numerous historic sites and tourist attractions Brussels is worth visiting because of the deepest swimming pool in Europe. Paweł Frątczak and Mariusz Wawerka describe their impressions while diving in the artificial depth reaching 33 metres.
Pocket Alarm System
SMS Instead of Warning Horn
Striving for improvement of life protection results in continuous search for the most effective techniques of early warning and alerting people to a danger. It turns out that mobile phones, not so popular until recently, can be highly beneficial in this field nowadays. By Dariusz Dziwulski
Handymen in a Unit
Easy but innovative and engagingly creative as well as, what is most important, improving the working conditions of firefighters, modernisation and modification works have become everyday reality in fire and rescue units. Firefighters from Grodzisk Wielkopolski represented by Wojciech Nolka share their experiences.
Bright Side of Service
The multitude of torch types on the market is overwhelming: headlamps, search lights, hand torches, powered either by rechargeable or non-rechargeable batteries, with conventional, halogen or xenon light bulb or with LED. Designed to work underwater, in fog, in smoke-filled rooms, in explosion hazardous area or in tunnels. They differ in their durability, operating time or extra facilities. We have chosen some small hand torches, which are representative for the group or simply the most interesting ones. (own info)
Eurobaltic - Answer on Regions Needs
Eurobaltic programme was the result of co-operation of Baltic Sea region countries for improving people and environment safety. Today the extended programme is continued as Eurobaltic II. By Barbara Kucnerowicz-Polak and Joanna Lewicka
Capacity Building for EU Crisis Mangement
EU Needs SFS Specialists
The development of civil measures for crisis management has proved that the State Fire Service can serve an important role in developing national resources for the EU crisis operations. By Łukasz Stolarski
Burning House is the Cheapest House
The title saying was created over 2,000 years ago by Marcus Crassus, the richest man of ancient Rome, patrician and politician. He knew what he was talking about since he put his words successfully into practice. Let us look closer at his exceptional business, which was an ultimate proof that the fire safety is very profitable and that it does not pay to save on it. By Paweł Rochala.
History of the Fire Service Union on the Polish Lands
History of the Central Union of the Fire Service of the Republic of Poland (1921-1933) by Krzysztof Krężel
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Kaleidoscope, Fires - Disasters - Failures, Views and Opinions, Law and Service, Miniature Maniacs Club, Fire Service Stamps, This is Worth Reading, Events Overview, Service and Faith
