Will the local governments contribute to the salaries of the firefighters? Will the firefighters in Warsaw earn more than their colleagues in other parts of Poland? Who will be able to attend a fire service college? - an interview with Brigadier Marek Kubiak, Chief Commandant of the State Fire Service. (own info)
BLEVE - Experiences of the Firefighters from Poznań
Breath of danger
Explosions and fires of liquid hydrocarbon gases (BLEVE) pose a considerable danger to people and their surroundings. They are especially dangerous within densely populated city areas. Road and rail transport of liquified gas poses the greatest threat. History shows that the consequences of BLEVE can be disastrous. Jerzy Ranecki presents several examples of rescue actions concerning liberating propane from rail tankers in an emergency.
Warsaw Version of Terrorism
A bomb, a suicide infected with a deadly virus, and a poisonous substances are the most probable scenarios of a terrorist attack at Warsaw Central Rail Station, warn Ryszard Grosset and Marcin Anszczak.
Science - Didactics - Practice
New century has modified previous threats and brought new ones; in brief: new challenges for civil safety. This was the subject of a conference organized in the Main School of Fire Service, entitled "Civil Safety Challenges of 21st century - scientific, didactic and practical engineering activities" - report by Marek Kwiatkowski.
Training Initiatives
New Impulse for Medical Rescue
A pilot group of instructors for the needs of medical rescue was created in the Lower Silesia province. The group consists of 38 firefighters, who have necessary qualifications and usually did practice in emergency service. By Lech Lewandowski.
Bringing Help as Passion
Bringing qualified medical help is not an easy task, which is discovered every year by the participants to the Polish Championships in Emergency Medicine and Road Accident Procedure of Subjects Creating and Supporting the National Rescue and Firefighting System (KSRG). This year, the third edition of the three-day-long championships also took place in the Beskid Mountains, in the town of Sucha Beskidzka in Stryszawa commune. Report by Piotr Pochopień.
Information of the Ministry of Interior and Administration Regarding Equivalent Payment
In regard to false statements, which have reached the milieu of volunteer fire service, regarding payment of equivalent to the volunteer firefighters for their participation in rescue actions and trainings organized by the State Fire Service, it is necessary to resolve some doubts and unjustified opinions questioning both good intentions and actions supporting the fire service taken by the Ministry of Interior and Administration. By Jarosław Zieliński, the secretary of state in the Ministry of Interior and Administration.
Standpoint of the General Board of the Union of the Volunteer Fire Service of the Republic of Poland (ZOSP RP)
Standpoint of the General Board of the ZOSP RP regarding the issue mentioned above, presented by its chairman, Waldemar Pawlak.
Air Arsonists (1)
Air forces were used for the first time before the World War One. During the war with Turkey, Italians used airplanes for reconnaissance in Africa, which gave them substantial advantage. Moreover, one of the airmen had an idea how to annoy the masses of enemy soldiers he watched from above and he took along two bombs, weighing two kilos each. He dropped them on the enemy lines, which triggered sheer panic on the ground. Although no-one was killed, the confusion among the terrified soldiers, completely irrational in relation to the means applied, was food for thought for servicemen. First part of a new series of articles by Paweł Rochala.
Curator of Saint Florian
The term "renaissance man" seems to suit no-one better than Wilhelm Syrnicki, chimney sweep, firefighter, social worker and curator of Saint Florain's museum in one person. Who deserves more than him to be called like that? (own info)
Saved from Oblivion
Not many firefighters remember that Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski, precursor of Polish fire service who tried to codify firefighting standards 500 years ago, came from Wolbórz, a small place near the city of Łód. Consisting of documents, equipment, and vehicles the extensive collection is based on five centuries of tradition and firefighting activity. In this way the Firefighting Historical and Educational Center of the Łód region was created in Wolbórz. By Marta Nowak
Chimneys' Disorders
Bad fuel, structural defects, some remaining soot - a life of a chimney is not easy. Chimneys sometimes protest, which leads to a fire. By Tomasz Sawicki, court export.
Explosion and Fire Suppression in New-Generation Tanks
Fire in a trap
A spectacular parade, which was held in Warsaw on 15th August, the Polish Armed Forces Day, sparked a great interest in modern weapons of Polish army. Especially strong emotions aroused by huge tanks - contemporary counterparts of the husaria Polish winged cavalry. Let's try to take a closer look on the fire protection system of those armoured fortresses on tracks. By Maciej Pietrzak.
Our Armoured Companions
Modern fire service units are equipped with many vehicles, both interesting and not typical. The equipment includes heavy rescue and firefighting vehicles built on tank track chassis or APC chassis. By Marek Pisarek.
Kiosk: Jumping Cushions (own info)
Distributed databases and case-based reasoning
Before taking a decision...
In the decision support system used by SFS firefighters during their actions, intervention descriptions are stored in a catalog database based on a distributed architecture. Case-based reasoning (CBR) is the basis of searching and comparing the cases stored in the database. By Adam Krasuski.
Regular columns:
Kaleidoscope, Fires - Disasters - Failures, Views and Opinions, Letters and Polemics, Law and Service, Events Overview, Fire Service Stamps, www.firefighting, Miniature Maniacs Club, Service and Faith, Postscript. In this issue: firefighting crossword!
