For the municipality of Kurne, Zhytomyr Oblast, the creation of a local fire and rescue unit is a necessity. Due to the considerable geography of the municipality and the large number of small villages, it takes 45 minutes or even an hour for the rescuers to travel from neighbouring Dovbysh and Pulyn to put out the fire.
That is why municipal officials were so interested in the experience of the municipalities of the Rivne Oblast, where they, together with their colleagues from the Zhytomyr and Vinnytsia Oblasts, studied the experience of establishing volunteer fire brigades. The participants of the visit studied good practices for creating and developing safe environments in the municipalities of Bila Krynytsia, Shpaniv and Velyka Omeliana.
“The Rivne Oblast is at the forefront of volunteer firefighting in Ukraine, and there are many municipalities creating these brigades. We explored how they function in these municipalities and who are the volunteers. Sometimes these were employees of local self-government or the state institutions, or drivers who worked for a utility company. But they all had one thing in common: Polish experience. And we decided to see it for ourselves and create a volunteer fire brigade based on this model in our municipality,” says Dmytro Medushevskyi, Deputy Mayor of Kurne.
According to him, the next step was participation in the International Solidarity Foundation’s project “Improving Civil Defence in Ukraine at the Local Level”. Throughout the week, the mayor and head of the volunteer fire brigade studied the history of volunteer firefighting in Poland. With the assistance of the Foundation’s project, the Kurne municipality can get a fire engine transferred from the state into municipal ownership. Negotiations and procedures are ongoing, and soon the volunteer fire brigade will have a vehicle to carry out its mission.
They also set up the Volunteer Fire Brigade of the Kurne Municipality, a public organisation headed by Yurii Holovnia, head of the volunteer fire brigade.
“In addition to organisational issues, training volunteers and seeking funding, we are building a fire station and collecting gear and necessary equipment,” says Dmytro.
In February 2024, 12 volunteers were selected in the Kurne municipality to undergo training at the Poltava Training Centre of the State Emergency Service. The future rescuers learned the theory, completed a week-long internship and received a volunteer certificate.
Dmytro highlighted successful cooperation with the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the Zhytomyr Oblast to train the fire brigade team. In April, seven members of the volunteer fire brigade joined a study visit at the invitation of the Association of Volunteer Fire Brigades of the Republic of Poland. It was a hands-on experience. They learned how the volunteers are organised in the units of the volunteer fire brigade, saw the infrastructure and operational principles, observed the work of the dispatch centre, as well as the outreach programmes for children’s fire brigades.
“At that stage, we already knew what to focus on and were aware of pending questions about the work of volunteer brigades, the answers to which could be learned from our Polish colleagues. After all, volunteer fire brigades have been operating in Poland for more than 100 years. Here I was really impressed by the respect for the volunteers’ work, for those who choose to join the brigades,” said Dmytro Medushevskyi.
The deputy head of Kurne spoke against the creation of a local fire brigade at the moment due to it being a significant burden on the budget. That is why they chose the format of a volunteer rescue squad. Among the key questions asked of colleagues from Polish communes was the financing of the volunteer fire brigade.
“The most frequent answer was to write projects and look for grants, participate in various European programmes,” said Dmytro.
The volunteer fire brigade is expected to be based in Kurne, and its branches will be established in two equidistant settlements. The work will be organised so that the rescue team can reach the scene in 15 to 20 minutes. The movement will be further promoted throughout the municipality so that there are volunteers in every starosta office.
The volunteer fire brigade includes men with a wide range of careers. Some represent agriculture and energy, some are local self-government officials. They are selected on a voluntary basis and must be resilient and in good physical shape.
The public organisation plans to raise awareness among children and youth. In addition, Dmytro says that volunteer teams in Poland are not male-only. Women are also actively engaged: they help in providing psychological support to victims, organising evacuation, etc. So they plan to develop this direction as well.
“I’m happy to see the Kurne municipality moving step by step towards creating a volunteer fire brigade, using the experience gained during the study visit to the Rivne Oblast,” said Vasyl Nevmerzhytskyi, Head of the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in the Zhytomyr Oblast.