A dialogue event “Creation of Local and Voluntary Fire Brigades by the Local Self-Government Bodies” was held the other day in the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. It brought together 20 heads of municipalities and U-LEAD’s experts to discuss the prospects for building a network of volunteer fire brigades, share their experiences and develop an action algorithm to strengthen security.
“The full-scale war brought the problem of fire safety to a new level. In addition to putting out fires, the rescuer teams rescue people from under rubble, clear mines, help victims and volunteers, etc. At the event, heads of municipalities presented their experience in creating and maintaining fire brigades. And everyone emphasised that no matter what the cost of funds invested in the creation of a local fire department, the lives of the saved municipality residents were priceless,” said Olena Tertyshna, Head of the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe.
The Dubovyky municipality, which unites 26 villages across more than 300 sq. km, has a population of almost 3,500. The creation of a safe space here was a priority, given the number of villages and the area. The history of the development of the fire brigade in the Dubovyky municipality was told by its head, Mykola Karnaukh:
"Four years ago, our municipality won the project ‘Improving the System of Civil Defence in United Municipalities of Ukraine’ initiated by the Republic of Poland. This allowed our firefighters to undergo training and receive a special vehicle and equipment. Since that time, a local fire brigade of 4 people and a volunteer fire brigade of 12 rescuers have been operating on the territory.”
The municipality built special premises to accommodate them. In 2023, approximately UAH 965,000 are planned for their maintenance from the local budget.
“Since its creation, our volunteer firefighters have done more than 250 emergency responses, including rocket attacks in the village of Chaplyne on 24 August 2022,” said the head of the municipality. “Hundreds of lives were saved just during the war, and the credit goes to our local fire department, which the residents affectionately call ‘Angels of Salvation’.”
Eduard Horbachov, Assistant to the head of the Department of State Emergency Services of Ukraine in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, presented the statistics on fires in the region. For instance, for 8 months of 2023, 2,234 fires were recorded in rural areas of the oblast, in which 49 people died. Rescuers of the State Emergency Service arrive at the scene within 20 minutes only in 20% of cases. There are 21 fire brigades in the municipalities of the region.
“Our institution is ready to support municipalities that will create fire brigades. Especially since there is currently an opportunity to transfer fire trucks to them. The functioning of fire utilities should become a priority for local self-government bodies, because it not only halves the time for rescuers to arrive at the scene of a fire or other crises, but also increases the municipality’s institutional capacity in the field of security,” said Mr Horbachov.
Summarising the meeting, Olena Tertyshna stressed that setting up a safe space in the municipality was a key task for the heads and their teams:
“The U-LEAD with Europe Programme helps local self-government to develop target security programmes and seek grant opportunities for the projects in this area, thereby strengthening their capacity and ability to hold on in wartime. Reach out!”