First aid should be taught the way the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity does, claims JERZY OWSIAK interviewed by Anna Łańduch. (Fire Review)
Ambassador Thanked Rescuers
On 26 July in the Ministry of Interior and Administration Hendra S. Pramana, the ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia, personally thanked the Polish rescuers and representatives of humanitarian organizations, who helped the people of Indonesia after the earthquake, which struck the region of Yogyakarta at the end of May. (own info)
Gdańsk's St. Catherine Church Fire
Carillon saved
While extinguishing the fire of Gdańsk's St. Catherine church, firefighters had to work in extreme and very dangerous conditions. They managed to put the fire out only because of the help of the other rescuers called on duty. The fire showed equipment shortages; as it turned out, the communication system should be modernized, and fire alarm systems and fixed fire systems should be installed in especially valuable historical monuments. By Dariusz Grabowski
Shock Stabilization
In Polkowice, Lower Silesia, the earth shook. Heavy rockburst in a local copper mine Rudna belonging to the KGHM Polska Miedź SA Company made tower blocks shake. On one hand the necessary detonations depressurizing the ground are indispensable for the normal functioning of the mine, but the rockbursts, which are side effect of those detonations, are tiresome for the people of Polkowice. How to reconcile the safety of the inhabitants of the town and of the miners? By Lech Lewandowski
Training for Civil Defence and Civil Protection: Brainstorm in Częstochowa
Creative Meeting
The Central School of the State Fire Service hosted third workshop on training system concerning civil protection and civil defence. (own info)
Al-Qaeda in Stąporków or the Biggest Manoeuvre and Defence Exercises in the Świętokrzyskie Region Ever
Fiery Terror
A truck carrying damaged gas bottles collides with a tank truck, which has just been filled with propane butane. This is not a coincidence! This is work of terrorists! In a while there will be BLEVE explosion on the area of Gaspol SA liquid gas bottling plant... An intriguing report by Magdalena Porwet and Grzegorz Ryski
World Statistics on Fire Control
Firefighting Calculations
On a per capita basis, the highest number of fires in Europe breaks out in Great Britain while most firefighters die in France. Those and other interesting information can be found in tables and charts prepared by CTIF. By Jan Kielin.
Polish National Minery-Pyrotechnic Workshop Pirotech 2006
Explosive Exercises
Pyrotechnicians and anti-terrorists of all voivodeship police headquarters, CBŚ (Central Bureau of Investigation) officers and GROM (Operational Mobile Response Group) soldiers took part in two-day exercises organized by Voivodeship Police HQ in Poznań. The exercises took place on 17-18 May on a military training ground in Biedrusko near Poznań. It was the first so extensive workshop of this type in Poland. Poznań firefighters supported policemen and soldiers. The aim of those exercises was the improvement of cooperation between all units in danger of terrorism, especially in case of planting explosives. Report by Jerzy Ranecki
Medical Teams of National Rescue and Firefighting System (KSRG) Subjects Competed in Kurów near Sucha Beskidzka
Under Such Slippery Cicumstances...
The weather did not cooperate with the participants of the 2nd Polish Championships in Emergency Medicine and Road Accident Procedure of Subjects Creating and Supporting KSRG. But teeming rain was an ally of the competition idea, as the skills of the rescuers should be checked in conditions as close to the natural as possible, sometimes even extreme ones. And like in real life the competitors find out what kind of help one needs just on the spot. The kind of the event was kept in strict confidence. Night and day, in difficult tasks took part 35 paramedic teams of the State Fire Service, Volunteer Fire Service, the Voluntary Water Rescue Service, the Voluntary Mountain Rescue Service, the Tatra Mountains Voluntary Rescue Service as well as of the Police, Border Police, and others. (own info)
June Struggle of Masovian Firefighters
Like every year in Masovia, June is the month when firefighters compete in many sport events connected to their service. Report by Zbigniew Włodarczyk
23rd Polish Championships in Fire Sport
Action Exercise: 29.86
Last year a team from the Podkarpacie region caused a great sensation in Częstochowa as it was close to the national record in action exercise. They were just five hundredths of a second away! This year athletes from the Podkarpacie region proved that their achievement was not accidental and set their own national record with time of 29.86. (own info)
Mitigated Explosion
Decompression prevents from unexpected high rise of the pressure inside process appliances and devices. In this way it transfers the effects of the explosion to a safe place, usually to an open space (outside buildings). By Rafał Porowski.
Arsons with Pyromania Features
Morbid Desire
Pyromaniacs are not common arsonists. They are distinguished first of all by "disinterestedness" of their actions: they set dangerous fires because usually it gives them different kinds of pleasure. According to the data of the State Fire Service Headquarters there are 48.000 - 55.000 cases of arson annually in Poland. 42 percent of all recorded fires in this country result from arsons and they certainly prevail in the structure of supposed reason. In Germany 14.000 - 15.000 arsons are recorded annually while in the United States even 400.000 ones, which cause financial loss of over 2 million dollars. By Tomasz Sawicki.
Polish Forest Fire Analysis
Why Forests Burn?
Fire hazard in Polish forests concerns 83 percent of forest resources while in Europe it is 65 percent. Abiotic, biotic and anthropogenic conditions influence the risk. The hazard often results from simultaneous influence of many adverse factors, which deteriorate the health of forests and make them more susceptible to fires, which break out and spread easier. By Ryszard Szczygieł and Barbara Ubysz
Double Nature of Foam
It is very popular in the industry; it makes sleep or drive more comfortable. But during a fire it gives off toxic substances which can kill. This danger arises during thermal decomposition and combustion of polyurethane foam. By Marzena Półka and Małgorzata Majder-Łopatka
Protection of Classified Information. How It Should Be?
Organization of the department for the protection of classified information in an organizational unit and its connection with other units: unfortunately theory does not meet practice. The law on the protection of classified information which came into force in March 1999 imposed many obligations upon directors of organizational units where classified information are generated, converted, filed and conveyed. Many of those obligations aim to protect proper state and official secrets. The law has been amended and improved many times for the last seven years. The last and greatest amendment took place in 2005. Several amendments were introduced to the verifying procedure, time of the security certificate being in force was prolonged, "secret registers" were slightly modified. But the generally accepted organization scheme of protection of classified information has not been changed. There are still protection representatives who are in charge of specialised departments for protection guaranteeing proper security of generated, converted, filed and conveyed classified information. By Ida Mroczek-Lep
Emergency Services in State Security System
Flexible and Creative
In the contemporary world security management through operational actions has become insufficient. Emergency services have to be internally transformed without waiting for a top-down ordered system change. In July it will have been 3 years since the President of Poland signed "The national security strategy of the Republic of Poland." Consequently "Civil Security 2004-2007" programme was to be elaborated and implemented. As a major emergency service the State Fire Service should be prepared for inevitable changes of the security system, which result not only from Poland's civilisational progress but also because present system approaches the efficiency limits. By Dariusz Rałowski
Dynasty of Jastrzębie
Fire officer Jerzy Gruchlik is a person who cannot separate his job from a lifelong passion. There is nothing strange about it, as he is hereditarily tainted. His father, Józef Gruchlik has worn the uniform for 72 years!
From Respect for Predecessors
The fire service in Olsztyn was established in 1881 and this year is accepted as a symbolic beginning of the fire service on the area of the present-day Warmia-Masuria province although the fire control of this sort had already existed in this region earlier (volunteer fire service in Pisz was the first one, founded 150 years ago). Firefighters celebrated the anniversary with a commemorative publication. This book is the first attempt to collect the history of a local fire service and according to the preface it should be an inspiration for historians and sociologists to "serious research on the past and present of the fire service in the Warmia-Masuria region." Although, obviously, it does not lay claim to exhaust the subject, it is an impressive inspiration. Over 250-page album entitled "Fire service of the Warmia-Masuria region. An outline history" by Tadeusz Prusiński is an interesting and beautiful publication indeed. (own info)
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