Russian Fire-Fighting Service marks its 80th anniversary
The Russian Fire-Fighting Service marks its 80th anniversary. July 18, 1927 is regarded as its birthday when the government of the Russian Federation approved “Regulations on the state fire-fighting service” which formalised legislatively for the first time the service’s basic functions.
The main stages in the development of the service included the establishment of the Scientific Fire-Fighting Committee in March 1930 and then the All-Union Scientific Fire-Fighting Society as well as publication of instructions and the new “Regulations on Fire-Fighting Service” in 1936.
Staff members of the service taught civilians during the Second World War how to put out incendiary bombs and organised anti-fire protection of buildings and houses. In 1945, first mobile fire-fighting laboratories were set up in Moscow, Leningrad, Gorky and Sverdlovsk.
Two years later, the government established a special agency on fire protection of very important projects, participating in operations to create “the nuclear shield” of the Soviet Union. The results of professional work of Soviet fire fighters were highly appraised abroad as well, which helped the service to join the Technical Committee for the Prevention and Extinction of Fire in 1958.
However, the status of numerous departmental normative acts in the sphere of fire security was lost early in the 1990s over a change in the form of ownership of enterprises. These circumstances were the reason for a disastrous rise in the number of fires in Russia. The federal law on fire security was signed only late in 1994, while on January 1, 2002, the State Fire-Fighting Service of the Interior Ministry was handed over to the Ministry for Emergencies.
The latter ministry says that impressive results in the sphere of prevention of fires were scored thanks to the operation of the service (inspectors make up to 1.2 million checkups annually). The number of fires dwindled down by 15 percent over the past four years, while the number of people who died in fires – by 14.3 percent.
This notwithstanding, protection of population and territories from fire still remains pressing in Russia. As a result, the Ministry for Emergencies conducts work to create a system of independent appraisal of risks – the so-called audit of security. Inspectors will not be involved in monitoring most enterprises: they will take under their control only projects, critically important for national security.
The ministry has worked out the Federal Targeted Programme “Fire security in the Russian Federation up to 2012”. Its implementation will help to cut the number of fires and people who die in them.
The Russian Fire-Fighting Service marks its 80th anniversary. July 18, 1927 is regarded as its birthday when the government of the Russian Federation approved “Regulations on the state fire-fighting service” which formalised legislatively for the first time the service’s basic functions.
