Amendments to the Act on Fire Protection and to several other legal acts are to guarantee organizing a unified emergency notification system in Poland, says Grzegorz Dolniak, an MP, Deputy Chairman of the Civic Platform Parliamentary Caucus. Interview by Bogdan Romanowski.
Two Accidents, Much Experience
There are several dozens, sometimes even several hundred road accidents in Poland every day. Accidents involving buses and pile-ups pose a particular threat to human life and health. At the end of last year there was a collision of two lorries, a mini bus and a bus carrying 47 persons in Jerzykowo near Poznań, and at the beginning of this year there was a pile-up in Poznań involving 37 passenger cars. By Jerzy Ranecki
Friendly Help
It is 17 October 2008, about 2.42 pm. A straight part of National Road 25 near the town of Nowy Dwór (the Koronowo commune, the district of Bydgoszcz). An opel astra approaches with a high speed a cyclist, when the cyclist suddenly cuts in front of the car. To avoid running over the cyclist, the driver turns aside to the opposite lane and collides head-on with a fiat scudo coming from the other direction. By Krzysztof Łangowski.
Fought and Won
No-one but firefighters can appreciate more the courage of a man who saves other people. Krzysztof Skiba did not hesitate about saving human life. During the ceremony of awarding him with a Medal for Sacrifice and Courage rescuers appreciated his act with long spontaneous applause. By Lech Lewandowski.
Railway Disaster on New Year's Day
A locomotive returning from renovation in Żurawica to Jasło hit at high speed a car and crushed it just like a paper model. Three young men were killed in this tragic accident. By Andrzej Łapkowski.
Heat and Power Plant Siekierki – Protected Warmth
The romanticists of 19th century understood reality as a living organism undergoing constant changes. This idea was contrasted to the way the world was perceived in the Enlightenment – as a mechanism based on the principle of antagonism between a man and the nature surrounding him. It is surprising that memory of those ideas return in an interview with Mariusz Grochowski – the director of the heat and power plant Elektrociepłownia Siekierki and heat plant Ciepłownia Kawęczyn, belonging to a Swedish syndicate Vattenfall Heat Poland SA, and with Bogusław Keller – the chief expert on fire protection in Vattenfall plants in Warsaw. By Elżbieta Przyłuska.
How to Extinguish?
Former portions of the information on prevention were to prompt reader to perceive fire prevention not as complex administrative duties, but through the prism of tactics understood, first of all, as rescue activities, and only than as extinguishing. In view of the European trend to save land for environmental purposes we have to take into account growing prices for allotments, which entails increasing density of the built-up area. Therefore, the fire safety provisions concerning fire escape roads and distances between buildings are not likely to be tightened. Hence, we have to accept the possibilities the current provisions offer the investors and adapt accordingly our equipment and skills. The last article from the series "Prevention for Tacticians" by Paweł Rochala.
Check It Before Turning On
Explosion protection plays a key role when it comes to the safety of people working on positions, where explosive atmosphere can occur. Uncontrolled explosion poses a threat to their life and health, causes material damage and devastates natural environment. Karol Gościniak writes about labelling the electrical devices in explosion-hazard areas.
Winter of the Century at Fault
Thirty years ago forty-nine persons were killed in a gas explosion in Rotunda – a building in Warsaw housing a bank. Tomasz Sawicki writes about this tragedy.
Open Source in Opole
An efficient and effective administration is necessary for a fire service HQ to function correctly. Transparency of administrative procedures and reducing costs of the functioning of the IT system are of great importance. Wiktor Bauer writes about the solutions concerning IT adopted in Opole.
Purchases for the Fire Service in 2008
The "Programme of Modernization of the Police, Border Guard, State Fire Service and the Government Protection Office in the years 2007-2009" has entered next implementation stage. Regardless of the modernization act, as every year, the SFS units obtained many interesting models of fire vehicles also in 2008. By Paweł Frątczak.
With Turbine against Large Fire
A gas pipe carrying ethylene in chemical plant Currenta in Cologne, Germany, became untight in March 2008. Leaking with the pressure of 80 bar, the gas ignited and turned into a huge torch. About 45 minutes later the fire spread onto a tanker with 3,000 cubic metres of acrylonitrile standing nearby. A non-standard fire vehicle with two turbine engines, which are installed in airplanes, was used in the action. By Jan Kielin.
Threat Made More Real
An old saying that necessity is the mother of invention has not become outdated. This has been proved recently by firefighters from a Fire and Rescue Unit of the SFS in Oława. They took the words of their commander to heart that "it would be good to make the training of young colleagues more real". They decided that they will build a device for sound imitation. (Lew.)
Good Background
The Fire Service College of the State Fire Service in Poznań has become well known in Europe as a place where experts meet, as a place of spreading knowledge, good practices and exchanging experiences. Piotr Guzewski writes about classes on preliminary fire investigation.
Advantages of Signboard
"Has the fire safety instruction an influence on the level of fire safety in an establishment?" asks Jan Kielin, analysing several documents.
Training Like Dowry
Firefighters from Zduńska Wola teach young people how to administer first aid. They will train about 1,000 second-year pupils from upper secondary school in the district within three months. We want these young people to enter adulthood with the ability to administer aid to the others, they underline. (AŁA)
Art of Listening
Communication is a process, which continuously takes place in our life. With the help of the position of our body, our face and gestures and, finally, with words we transfer information and express ourselves. Communication is an essential ability, which enables us to deal with different issues and develop relations with other people. Unfortunately, this important art is not taught at schools; and we cannot always rely on good family patterns. Despite the fact that we talk with each other, this does not mean that we understand each other. By Monika Marcinkiewicz
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