How a unified fire brigade was created - a full-fledged firefighter

In order to increase vocational training specialists in 1946, fire schools were transformed into fire-technical schools. In 1948, higher fire-technical courses were opened in Moscow, staffed by highly qualified scientific and pedagogical personnel who had accumulated experience in training

In order to improve the professional training of specialists in 1946, fire schools were transformed into fire-technical schools. In 1948, higher fire-technical courses were opened in Moscow, staffed by highly qualified scientific and pedagogical personnel who had accumulated experience in training fire engineers at FIPO (from 1943 to 1948, the faculty of fire defense engineers was located in Baku at the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute).

Universities pay attention to improving the teaching of the discipline of safety and fire fighting equipment.

Shortage of fire-technical personnel in the first post-war years was partially compensated by the organizational measures proposed by the leadership of the country's fire department. In 1947 on large enterprises fire-technical commissions are created, which are entrusted with social work to control the provision and improvement fire safety enterprises. The commission conducted inspections of the fire-prevention condition of industrial buildings, controlled fire mode enterprises, the responsibility of workers and employees for fire safety in the workplace was activated and stimulated. In the residential sector of cities and towns, control over compliance with the fire safety rules of objects was assigned to responsible persons (managers and commandants). Later, the work of freelance fire inspectors at enterprises is organized.

Thanks to the powerful enthusiasm of the masses and firm state leadership, by 1950 the national economy of the country had not only been restored, but had also received progressive development. Even such cities as Stalingrad were completely rebuilt, in which, after turning point battle not a single house survived with the Nazis. Resumed their work 6200 industrial enterprises. Volume industrial production exceeded the pre-war level by 73%.

In the 1950s the growth rates of industrial production and national income were the highest in the entire Soviet history (including subsequent years).

Soviet Union achieved unprecedented achievements in all spheres of national economic activity. Science and technology, education developed rapidly. In the late 1950s the first turbojet liner TU-104 was created, the world's first multi-stage intercontinental ballistic missile was launched, the most powerful walking excavator and the Lenin nuclear icebreaker were created. On October 4, 1957, the first artificial Earth satellite was launched in our country, and a little later, on April 12, 1961, the whole world recognized the first pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR, Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin.

The strong economic performance of the country positive results in social sphere. Real income workers and employees increased by 60%, and collective farmers - by 90%. The transition of workers and employees to a 7-hour working day was completed, and the working week was reduced to 46 hours. In a situation of colossal socio-economic recovery and scientific and technological progress of the country fire department could not develop at the same rate. To ensure fire safety of facilities National economy, the Soviet people needed to raise the work of the fire department to a new qualitative level.

At this crucial time, the GUPO of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR was headed by Major General A.N. Saburov (1954-1957) and N.A. Tarasov-Agalakov (1957-1960), who managed to organize work to ensure fire safety of the country's unprecedentedly developing national economy, Hero of the Soviet Union, one of the organizers and leaders of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War, A.N. Saburov, using his influence, energy and organizational skills, successfully continued to work on the development of the fire department on a solid material and technical base.

Much has been done to improve the activities of the State Fire Supervision in the field of fire prevention, to develop scientific research, for the training of engineering and scientific-pedagogical personnel, for the development of fire prevention propaganda. Not being a professional firefighter, he sympathetically perceived the development trends of the fire industry and contributed to their development and solution in the highest circles. state power.

Even in the first post-war years, Moscow, Gorky, Vargashinsky, Grabovsky, Novotorzhsky automobile plants, Livensky and Zaporizhzhya plants for the production of motor pumps, Chumlyansky plant for the production of fire extinguishers and others were restored and began to produce fire equipment. In mid-1949, a decision was made that marked the beginning of the technical re-equipment of the country's fire department. It was necessary not only to establish and increase the production of fire technical products, but also to develop new modern types of it. This difficult and important task began to be solved in the design and scientific divisions of TsNIIPO immediately after the war.

In the early 1950s industry began to develop samples of a new generation of fire engines. During these years, the PMG-6, PMZ-9, PMZ-10, I, PMG-12, 13, IMZ-15,16,17,18, PMG-19,20,21 vehicles, automatic firefighters ladders AM-62 (LA), AM-45 (DB) in the mid-1950s. in parts, a 45-meter ladder LD appeared on a shortened MAZ-200 chassis with an all-metal platform, a tank truck with a tank on the MAZ-250 chassis, river and sea fire boats. The oxygen insulating gas mask KIP-6 and other products began to be produced.

In order to strengthen fire protection in rural areas, the Council of Ministers of the USSR in 1955 issued a resolution that laid down new principles in the organization of rural fire protection. According to the resolution, fire equipment was transferred to the balance of collective farms, it was planned to accelerate the introduction fire fighting measures and equipment for fire protection of livestock farms, lands, residential and public buildings. Responsibility for fire safety was assigned to the chairmen of collective farms, and voluntary fire brigades became the main organizing center for fire protection in the countryside.

In 1957, the faculty of fire fighting and safety engineers was reopened (at the Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR), which was long time the only one, and with the opening of other universities, it became the country's leading educational institution for the training of engineering personnel for the fire department. By this time, thousands of young qualified fire technicians and graduates of higher fire-technical courses had joined the ranks of the fire department, the shortage of which in the first post-war years was especially felt in the field of fire prevention.

Great assistance to firefighters, in addition to expanding the range of scientific research TsNIIPO, began to provide fire test stations formed in the garrisons of Moscow, Leningrad, Sverdlovsk, Kuibyshev, Kharkov, Rostov-on-Don. Created at the end of 1945 in Leningrad, Moscow, Sverdlovsk, Gorky, mobile fire laboratories, whose task was to study the phenomena and processes occurring in real fires, turned into the mid-1950s. into real research laboratories. Special success in this direction was achieved by the staff of the Leningrad laboratory.

From the first departure in January 1946 (at that time a mobile fire laboratory), the employees collected and systematized factual material on the study of fires, the study of the causes of their occurrence, the behavior of structures under thermal exposure. The data obtained was used for practical advice to reduce fire hazard objects, various products, devices, installations.

The research work of the laboratory was not limited to trips to fires. Its employees A.D. Faibishenko, S.A. Klaman (master of sports in chess, coach of the famous grandmaster Viktor Korchnoi), N.P. Smirnova, K.P. Smirnov, headed by the head of the laboratory B.V. Megorsky, the country's leading specialist in the field of investigating the causes of fires, helped firefighters in the development of new equipment, identified its shortcomings and made suggestions for their elimination, conducted quality checks of fire extinguishing agents, fire-retardant coatings. GUNO carried out active work to promote fire safety among the population, to increase the prestige of the profession of a firefighter.

Since 1955, the publication of the Pozharnoe delo magazine was resumed, N.A. Tarasov-Agalakov. The magazine covered not only professional organizational and technical issues, but also published literary works reflecting the work of firefighters. Mass circulation began to publish posters, postcards, match labels and other promotional products, explaining the danger of fire and warning against careless handling of fire. There were films, plays, other literary and artistic works describing the difficult, heroic work of a firefighter.

An important event that reflected the attitude of the state to the profession of a firefighter was the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 31, 1957 on the establishment of the medal "For Courage in a Fire". By this decision, the profession of a firefighter was actually recognized as one of the most honorable and heroic. The profession of a firefighter became prestigious. The famous writer Nikolai Tikhonov so artistically presented the image of the fireman of the late 1950s: “From the quiet, inconspicuous figure of the “gray hero,” as the fireman was called before the revolution, from the almost comical type of “godfather-fireman”, the image of a modern, advanced, Soviet man multi-talented, technically trained firefighter who competes with the best craftsmen, and this today's Soviet firefighter is the pride of the people, and all Soviet people are grateful to him for his valiant deeds.

2. Soviet fire protection in the context of the transformations of the 1950s - 1960s. and the beginning of the scientific and technological revolution

Giving information about the work and development of the fire department of the USSR in post-war period, it is impossible not to note the decision of the GUPO of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR adopted in 1956 to combine the functions of preventing fire extinguishing in one unit. Responsibility for fire condition assigned to the leadership of units and detachments.

This reorganization was explained by the peculiarities of the time when the inspector staff major cities, due to the small number of trained engineering workers, carried out supervision mainly at large enterprises and in public buildings. At other facilities, fire and preventive work was not carried out enough. When examining designs for objects under construction, the inspector did not always provide for measures that would guarantee a successful fight against fire.

The latter was explained by the insufficient training of preventive technicians in the field of firefighting (in the 1950s, cadets were trained in specializations in fire-technical schools). On the contrary, the experience of on-site fire brigades and teams of small towns showed the possibility of successfully combining fire prevention and extinguishing in the division. Of course, the objects in small towns were not distinguished by the complexity of technological production and the variety of design and planning solutions.

After the liberalization of social and political life in the country and the restructuring of economic management from the sectoral to the territorial principle, the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs was abolished in 1960. A number of ministries and departments were transferred to the union-republican subordination. The functions of fire supervision began to be performed by the GUPO, UPO union republics, IT Department of Internal Affairs of the Autonomous Republics, Territories and Regions. All this could not but affect the subsequent stage of the work of the country's Fire Service. General of Internal Service M. I. Zemsky (1960-1966), a graduate of the Leningrad fire technical school, was appointed head of the GUPO of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RSFSR.

The decline in the country's industrial production growth rates in the 1960s. 65% (compared to 1955) affected the fire department. In order to "save" budgetary funds, over 250 facility teams were reduced. Obviously, during this period, due to a decrease in the volume of preventive functions and a quick response to a fire at facilities, there is a significant increase in the number of large fires in the country. In this difficult situation, as before in the hysteria of the fire business in Russia, the activities of voluntary fire societies and voluntary fire brigades are being activated.

Even before 1960, these organizations were being created in all the republics with the exception of the RSFSR. On August 22, 1964, the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR approved the draft charter of the All-Russian Fire Society. However, the erroneous views that existed at that time on the role and tasks of the society, reflected in the charter, did not make it possible to activate this organization to the extent necessary: ​​the number of fires, including large ones, increased. August 23, 1966 with the formation of the Ministry of Protection public order(MOOP) The USSR is also restoring the central leadership of the fire department. Lieutenant-General of the internal service F.V. Obukhov (1967-1984) was appointed head of the GUPO MOOP of the USSR. In the same year, F.V. Obukhov is elected Vice-President of the International Committee for the Prevention of Fire Fighting (CT1R), heading the Science and Research Commission. Fedor Vasilyevich Obukhov led the fire department of the USSR in a very peculiar period of new economic transformations in the country, in the conditions of the appearance of the first signs of a socio-economic and political crisis. Externally, the country has entered a new phase of economic development. Powerful territorial-production and agro-industrial complexes began to be created, new deposits of oil, gas, and coal were developed. Giant oil refineries, oil and gas pipelines, storage facilities for combustible liquids were built; new businesses were created. New facilities required an appropriate approach to solving fire safety issues.

Nevertheless, during this historical period of time (the second half of the 1960s - the beginning of the 1980s), the growth rates of industrial production compared with 1955 decreased by almost 3 times - from 13.1% to 4.4% on average over year. The leadership of the country, feeling the lack of funds for new round growth of the economy, it began to "save" on the non-productive sector, which included the fire department.

At the same time, a crisis emerged in the social sphere. Real per capita income fell 2.8 times. The average life expectancy in the USSR turned out to be lower than in the 1950s. The country has fallen to 50th place in the world in terms of child mortality and 35th in terms of life expectancy. And it is no coincidence that due to indifference, indiscipline and other social causes, the number of fires in the country by 1966 compared with 1958 increased by almost 1.5 times and reached 90 thousand, and by 1985 - 170 thousand.

Nevertheless, against this background, the fire department continued its progressive development, reaching a new qualitative level and becoming a truly engineering service. In this, considerable merit belonged to F.V. Obukhov. He understood that without the support and interest of the state, especially during the period of economic difficulties in the country, the fire protection cannot be raised to a new qualitative level. Using high professional training, competence, the ability to conduct evidence-based conversations, personal charm, he soon not only gained authority among top management, enlisted their full support further development fire department. Reports by F.V. Obukhov at the collegiums of various ministries were based on the real situation in the industries, on the analysis of long-term statistics on the occurrence of fires, on specific proposals for improving the level of fire safety.

All this raised the authority fire service. Leaders of various ranks were immersed in the issue of fire safety and became allies in solving important issues, including the financing of new projects to save objects from fire. During this period, a number of reforms are taking place to reorganize the fire department, the full introduction of fire automation at national economy facilities, the creation of a scientific base for the development of a fire safety system, and the training of qualified engineering personnel.

Professional fire protection of all republican, regional and regional centers, cities, many large district centers, including all district centers of the Moscow region, was transformed into a paramilitary fire protection (VPO). Between 1968 and 1982 for these purposes, the government annually allocated from 8 to 12 thousand staff units for the military production of cities and the most important objects. There was a steady increase in the number of rank and file and commanding staff of the VPO of the USSR.

The management of the fire brigade, understanding the growing threat of fires and based on the available resources, is working to improve the organizational and staffing structure of the units, to increase the efficiency of the fire brigade due to the specialization of services.

In the 1970s, in accordance with the directive of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, prepared by the GUPO, the improvement of the work of the fire department was to be carried out through the introduction of scientific and technical achievements into practice, the widespread use of fire automation, and the involvement of engineering and technical workers in creative activity in the field of ensuring fire safety of production.

In 1974-1979. government regulations were adopted to improve fire safety in settlements and industrial facilities, to improve the work of the State Fire Supervision, also aimed at improving the organization of extinguishing large fires and equipping fire departments with modern fire fighting equipment and strengthening control over compliance with fire safety rules. In all regions of the country, strongholds for extinguishing large fires were created. During this period, fire automatics were widely introduced.

In a short time, about 2 million objects were equipped with automatic fire detection systems. Fire extinguishing systems were actively introduced. As a result of the preventive measures taken, only for the period 1966 - 1970. more than 1 million fires were prevented, and almost 100 thousand fires were eliminated with minimal material damage. Due to the introduction of fire automatics, more than 3 million rubles of material assets were saved from fire.

One of the priority activities of the head office was the development of scientific research and development aimed at practical activities to increase the combat capability of the fire department. This work, as before, was entrusted primarily to TsNIIPO. During the post-war years, the Institute has further strengthened the material base and expanded the scope of scientific interests. The staff of the Institute, along with mature specialists, was constantly replenished with young capable scientists developing both old and new scientific areas of activity. Over the years of its activity, the institute has become a leader in Russia in the field of research into fire safety problems, and for some developments and scientific achievements - one of the most authoritative in the world. In July 1968, TsNIIPO, by order of the Ministry of Public Order of the USSR No. 437, was renamed into the All-Union Research and Development Institute of Fire Defense, and in February 1969 by order of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 53 - into the All-Union Research Institute of Fire Defense (VNIIPO )

In the post-war period of the restoration of the national economy, such a scientific direction as fire prevention began to actively develop. The objective impetus for this was the consequences of military fires, in which many structural elements of buildings, previously considered fire-resistant, could not withstand the effects of fire and collapsed. The problem of the stability of buildings and structures became especially relevant when introducing original designs into the construction constructive solutions and new compositions of building materials.

Late 1970s - early 1980s marked a new stage in the development of scientific thought in the field of fire safety. With the creation mathematical models development of a fire and their improvement, I.S. Molchadsky provided a scientific basis for solving a number of new scientific problems. In particular, the developments of VNIIPO scientists formed the basis of GOST “Fire Safety”, which provides calculated dependencies that allow assessing the safety of people in a building in case of fire. Work in this direction was continued by A.V. Pchelintsev, S.V. Zotov, V.N. Gutov and others under an international program in which researchers from Great Britain and Japan participated. The results of these works were used in the development fire safety requirements building codes, fire safety rules, as well as in the design of high-rise buildings and public buildings with a stay a large number of people.

Due to the complexity of the implementation of technical products in practice and the high degree of monopolization of the fire equipment market in the USSR, a significant part of the developments of scientific institutions began to be directed mainly to improving the regulatory and technical base and other issues that do not require implementation costs. Intensive and positive work in this direction has led to negative consequences: fire safety requirements turned out to be dispersed over almost 1.5 thousand regulatory and regulatory and technical documents, in some editions contradicting one another.

The need to train a large number of qualified personnel for the fire department contributed to the active work of the GUPO to create a network of higher educational institutions countries. During this period, higher educational institutions were formed: in Irkutsk - for the training of engineering personnel for the fire protection of Siberia and Far East; in Tashkent - for the republics of Central Asia.

At the same time, a number of secondary educational institutions are opening. Such organizational work made it possible to provide the leadership of the fire protection garrisons with qualified personnel in a short time. A favorable environment has been created for the introduction into practice of scientific developments in the field of new technology, taking into account foreign achievements.

In order to promote fire safety, on the initiative of the GUPO, permanent fire-technical exhibitions (fire propaganda centers) and test fire laboratories are being created in all regions, some of which are being converted into scientific ones under the general methodological guidance of VNIIPO.

The leadership of the GUPO attached particular importance to a deeper analysis of the fires that had arisen over a long period of 5-10 years. This made it possible to identify trends in the development of fire safety, both in the short term and in the long term. On the basis of analytical materials, scientific and technical plans in the field of fire safety development were corrected and developed.

By the beginning of the 1980s. The fire brigade of the Soviet Union was practically transformed into an engineering service. It included about 200 thousand people. personnel, more than 150 thousand employees of the paramilitary fire department. About 30 thousand fire trucks for various purposes were completed.

During this period, the leadership of the fire department gained authority not only in ministries and departments, but also among the governing bodies of the state. Its workers, with their inherent skill and heroism, in spite of any difficulties, did their duty. In 1979 alone, 13,000 people were saved from fires. More than 300 fighters and commanders were awarded orders and medals of the Soviet Union.

From the mid 1980s. The USSR is entering a new era of socio-political reforms. Practically in all sectors of the national economy there is a sharp decline: by 1990, the country economic indicators rolled back to the position of 1980. Many industrial enterprises stop working. The country was swallowed up by the inflationary process. And if in the first years of the “free economy” the state supported the public sector with various compensations, then subsequently the real wages of employees decreased significantly (by 2000, the real wages of firefighters decreased by almost 5 times).

In the mid-1980s, economic difficulties were already beginning to manifest themselves. For example, by this time the fire brigade was staffed only by 85% with fire trucks.

In a difficult socio-economic situation, the country's fire brigade (GUPO) was headed in 1984 by Anatoly Kuzmich Mikeev (born in 1929). A graduate of the Higher Fire and Technical Courses (1955), deputy head of the GUPO of Russia until 1967, deputy head of the GUPO of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR until 1980. He organically combined and showed in practice administrative and scientific ability. Experts in the field of fire safety in Russia and other countries know him as an outstanding scientist, head of VNIIPO (1980-1984), author of more than 150 scientific papers, many of which were published abroad. In 1984 A.K. Mikeev heads the GUPO of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR and is elected vice-president of the International Committee for the Prevention and Suppression of Fires. No less fruitful was the activity of A.K. Mikeev, lieutenant general of the internal service, as head of the Main Directorate of Fire Protection of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR (1984-1992).

In this difficult period for the country, the leadership of the fire department seeks to maintain the combat capability of the units and, due to the prevailing circumstances, to increase the level of fire safety of facilities. During this period, the new edition fire protection charter (November 1, 1985). Guiding documents were aimed at improving the fire extinguishing service, increasing the efficiency of preventive agencies, and reducing the fire hazard of facilities. However, despite the desire of the fire department to support the service in such difficult time at a high level, on the selfless work of fire departments, the situation in the country with fires began to become more complicated. In the 1980s and 1990s there was a series of catastrophic fires.

On the night of April 26, 1986 at 1 hour 23 minutes. at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, an explosion occurred in the reactor of the fourth block. A minute later, the junior inspector of the preventive supervision service for fire regimes at the power plant, V. Palagel, transmitted a message about the fire. On alarm, the duty guards of the NPP fire station, led by the head of the guard, Lieutenant Vladimir Pravik, and the Pripyat city fire station, led by Lieutenant Viktor Kibenok, left for the crash site. A little later, the head of the fire department, Major L.P., who was on vacation, arrived at the crash site. Telyatnikov.

Prompt and selfless actions of 28 fighters and commanders, who were the first to receive a fire-radiation strike, managed to prevent a global ecological catastrophe, preventing the transition of fire to adjacent power units, to the engine room. Understanding the deadly consequences for themselves, losing strength as a result of unprecedented exposure to direct radiation, firefighters left their posts only after losing their last strength, At 4 o'clock. 50 min. the fire was localized by the already arrived fresh forces, and at 6 o'clock. completely eliminated.

The names of the fallen heroes, first echelon fighters - Vladimir Pravik, Viktor Kibenok, Vladimir Tishura, Vasily Ignatenko, Nikolai Tytenok, Nikolai Vashchuk - must forever remain in the memory of people living on earth. For courage, heroism and selfless actions shown during the liquidation of the accident, three firefighters were awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union: Major L.P. Telyatnikov, lieutenants B.C. Kibenok (posthumously) and V.P. Pravik (posthumously).

A participant in the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster A.K. Mikeev, supervises the creation special means extinguishing fires at similar facilities, is in charge of working group of the American-Soviet Coordinating Committee on Fire Safety in the Operation of Nuclear Reactors, justifies the need to create rapid response units to carry out emergency rescue operations to extinguish fires in emergency situations.

With the introduction of the new "Manual on the organization of the work of state fire supervision" in 1987, the inspector staff expanded not only the range of actions, but also more independence. Employees received control over specific territories. They had to be engaged in preventive work at enterprises at least 15 days a month. However, practice has shown that not everyone was prepared to work in the new conditions. The consequences of staffing the state fire supervision service with builders, doctors, and teachers, which took place in the late 1970s, had an effect. due to the lack of specialists with fire-technical education. The retraining of these people did not bring the expected results.

The restructuring that began in the country also required the adoption of measures to strengthen fire safety. In 1987, a resolution "On measures to further strengthen fire safety in the country" was adopted. The government is required to bring organizational and technical background fire safety in line with the requirements of economic reform.

Management bodies in the center and locally were instructed not only to develop a set of measures to strengthen fire safety, but also to organize their implementation. The resolution obliged a number of ministries and departments to review the existing regulations, strengthen work to reduce the fire hazard of manufactured products, organize the repair of equipment in the countryside. The fire brigade has been given the right to more flexibly use the available strength, logistical and financial resources. Unfortunately, in fact, the fire department in the periphery, and especially in rural areas, had to operate in austerity mode.

The resolution reflected the urgent personnel issues. A faculty for the training of leadership personnel was created at the All-Union Institute of Higher Technical Schools in Moscow and an institute for advanced training in Leningrad. By order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, in cities where professional fire brigades (PPO) are located, it is allowed to introduce the position of head of the inspection (he is also the head of the detachment, part of the PPO). This made it possible to strengthen the leadership of the PPO units and ensure a unified management of the service in solving fire safety issues. The issue of subordinating professional fire brigades stationed in these cities to detachments and units of the VPO has also been resolved.

In the 1980s the fire service in the country has become stronger, technically it has become better equipped, the personnel is more combat-ready. But the tragic consequences of recent years - major fires, accidents, catastrophes that led to numerous casualties, have brought to the fore the task of coordinating and interacting all special services to act in extreme conditions. In accordance with this, by order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR dated March 29, 1989, 8 regional specialized detachments (RSO) were created to carry out priority rescue work in regions affected by natural disasters. In the republican and regional centers, specialized units of the paramilitary fire brigade are organized, with tasks similar to those of the RSO. The structure of the units includes functional units: fire and rescue teams, diving departments, medical service, radiation and chemical safety departments, cynologist departments.

At the same time, the alarming situation with fires and fire safety in the country, for a number of reasons, has not only not improved, but has worsened in many respects. The gap between the new trends in the economy and the entrenched approaches to organization became deeper and deeper! fire safety measures. Fire statistics, for all their incompleteness, very convincingly shows a trend towards an increase in fires and damage from them. As noted at the collegium of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR in May 1990, the number of fires in 1989 increased by 12.7%, the damage from them by 34.3%. The fires killed 9135 people.

The confusion in the economy, the decline in production, non-payments and a number of other costs in the implementation of reforms disrupted the coordination of efforts of ministries, departments and supervisory authorities in dealing with fire safety issues. The attention of the services of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia to the prevention and especially the disclosure of crimes related to arson has also weakened. The level of educational work in subdivisions has decreased. Insufficient allocation of budgetary funds had a negative impact on the organization, training and retraining of personnel. Even worse is the state of affairs with the release of equipment for rescue operations and fire fighting.

Out of 13 special vehicles, produced before 1985, 8 were discontinued by 1990. Over the past 10 years, the volume of production of gas masks KIP-8 has decreased from 22 to 12 thousand per year, and ASV-2 from 3 thousand to 500 pieces. With an annual need of 16.0 million fire extinguishers, 4.7 million are produced.

Conclusion

The Soviet fire protection in the post-war period has passed a difficult path from further development to a state of crisis. At the same time, the dynamics of the development of the fire safety system in the USSR invariably reflected the socio-economic and political processes that took place in the country. Experience suggests that the fire department maintained high level combat readiness and technical equipment only in conditions of stability of the social and state system, as well as the progressive development of the economy and the introduction of the achievements of scientific and technological revolution.

Unfortunately, the inconsistency of reorganizations in the period from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s. neutralized many of the successes of the VPO of the USSR achieved in the first post-war years. Further attempts to develop the fire department in the conditions of the scientific and technological revolution were also not always successful, since the processes of bureaucratization of the management of the fire department intensified, petty regulation of its activities prevented more effective measures to prevent fires and technical equipment of fire departments and divisions. Under these conditions, the prestige of the profession of a firefighter began to fall, and the lack of personnel was made up for by the involvement of specialists from the national economy, which was not always justified. All this led to a worsening of the fire hazard situation in the country by the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s.

2. Formation and development of the State Border Service of Russia in the 1990s - the beginning of the XXI century.

In the early 1990s as a result of the collapse of the USSR and the formation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Russian Federation, as well as carrying out structural restructuring in the very apparatus of the ministry, issues of organizing, improving the structure of fire departments were transferred to the competence of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the autonomous republics, the Central Internal Affairs Directorate, the Internal Affairs Directorate of territories and regions. The Commander-in-Chief retained the functions of implementing the organizational and technical policy. In other words, the central office should develop national standards, norms, fire safety rules, manage the fire protection at sensitive enterprises; to coordinate inter-republican measures to extinguish large fires, to manage the RSO. GUPO remains the customer for fire fighting equipment and fire fighting equipment. The scope of his activities included the coordination of intersectoral problems, international cooperation. Major General V.E. Dedikov (1991-1995). In the sphere of activity of the central office, the functions of implementing organizational and technical policies remained.

1. Aggravation of the crisis of the fire safety system in Russia in the early 1990s.

Aggravation of the socio-economic crisis at the turn of the 1980s -1990s. affected the level of fire safety in Russia. The population of the country, in search of livelihood and profit at any cost, has ceased to seriously pay attention to fire safety rules. This resulted in negligence and neglect of fire safety issues and led to a noticeable increase in the number of fires and deaths.

In the current situation, the main tasks of the fire department leadership were to maintain the combat capability of fire departments, improve the work of supervisory services, draw the attention of government officials and economic managers to fire safety problems. The sharp deterioration of the economic situation in the country, political instability in society weakened the attention of all levels of the state apparatus and economic leaders to the problems of fire safety. Real losses from fires have risen sharply. Every year, about 1 million people lose their homes from fire. About 1 million square meters are being destroyed. m of industrial and agricultural areas, burns up to 2 million hectares of the forest fund.

Fires in Russia have acquired the scale of a national disaster. In 1993, there were 331 thousand fires, which caused material damage of about 200 billion rubles. According to some estimates, the administrative and legal activities of the fire department made it possible to prevent about 710.9 thousand fires. This number did not include the fire at the engine plant of KamAZ JSC, which broke out on April 14, 1993. For eight days and nights there was a selfless fight against fire. A complex fire that has no analogues in the country was eliminated. He clearly showed what happens as a result of the neglect of elementary and obvious safety requirements.

Due to the weakening of fire prevention propaganda, incl. and means mass media, for many citizens and officials various enterprises and institutions let down their vigilance. They have lost their accumulated experience and the ability to navigate in elementary situations, not to mention more complex ones, for example, in case of fires in multi-storey buildings. There was a situation when in the residential sector and at many enterprises there was a complete absence of primary fire extinguishing equipment, fire detectors, which are widespread in all developed countries.

In conditions market relations the role of VDPO has sharply decreased. High taxes, non-payments and other unresolved issues have led to the fact that the structures of the VDPO turned out to be not competitive in comparison with cooperatives, small businesses that provide fire fighting services to the population. Minimizing headcount district PPOs and the emergence of interdistrict PPOs led to a further deterioration in fire prevention work, as the workload on PPO workers increased, and they actually lost support from the population and local authorities.

During the years of market transformations, the material and technical condition of the fire departments has deteriorated significantly. The staffing of the main types of fire fighting equipment and equipment ranges from 57% to 89% of required amount, and special equipment is even worse. Only 26% of Russian cities have ladders, and there are even fewer GDZS cars - they are only in 6% of cities.

A detailed analysis of the current situation was presented in the report to the President of the Russian Federation B. N. Yeltsin "Burning Russia". It noted that the average annual increase in the number of fires over the past five years has increased by 2.2 times, which corresponds to an increase of 12% per year. A forecast was made that by the year 2000, compared to 1993, the number of fires would increase by 2.6-3 times, and the damage from them - by 3.5-4 times. A real assessment of the state of fire safety made it possible to draw attention to the problem of the highest state authorities.

Realizing the global nature of the problem of ensuring fire safety, the country's leadership is transforming the fire department into a firefighting and emergency rescue service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. With a significant expansion of the functions of the fire department, it needs more financial and legal support from the state. However, the difficult political and economic situation in the country leaves unattended the problems of the fire service. Created specialized units are not staffed. They are armed with 51% of the required equipment, of which 32.7% needs to be replaced or repaired. However, without being able real support, but, realizing the need to take any measures, on August 23, 1993, the Council of Ministers of the Russian Federation transformed the Fire and Rescue Service (SPASR) into the State Fire Service (SFS) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

Even civil servants began to publicly declare about the catastrophic growth of fires and the need to change the state policy in the field of ensuring fire safety. So, F.M. Demidov, the deputy head of the central department, wrote: “Today, fires in Russia have become a real national disaster, all the more dangerous because the scale of the losses is not realized by the population and many state structures. Unless urgent measures are taken, by the year 2000 in the Russian Federation the number of people dying in fires annually will reach 14,000 people. The relative level of losses from fires becomes the highest among the developed countries of the world and exceeds comparable losses (excluding losses from death and injury to people) in Japan - 6.3 times, in the UK - 4.5 times, in the USA - 3 times.

The operational situation with the fires that developed in Russia could not remain unnoticed by the leading circles. As a result of the work done by a large team of professionals, on December 21, 1994, the President of the Russian Federation signed the Federal Law "On Fire Safety". According to the law, the problem of fire safety ceased to be departmental and became state. It sets out provisions for a unified system

The State Fire Service, for which powers are defined, a system of urgent measures in the field of fire safety, etc. However, the economic situation in the country at that time hindered the implementation of the provisions and norms laid down in the law.

In 1995, the number of fires in the country (294.1 thousand) and victims (14.9 thousand people) exceeded the most alarming forecasts. In this difficult situation, the fire brigade of Russia was headed by B.A. Serebrennikov.

AT last years 20th century As a result of the economic downturn, there is an indifferent attitude towards fire safety issues. Moreover, this applies not only to the links of the state apparatus, but also to local and economic leaders who are forced to find all available reserves to maintain the efficiency of enterprises, believing that the funds allocated for fire protection are an unnecessary and unnecessary waste. The media are discussing the issue of limiting the powers of the state fire supervision, which hinder the development of the economy and especially in the field of small business.

This situation could not but affect the state of the fire department as a whole. The limited federal budget has led to a reduction in funding for the state fire service by 55%. In essence, funds were allocated only for the monetary maintenance of personnel. As a result of socio-economic processes, primarily due to the lagging growth of the "freeze" of the monetary content in relation to inflation, the composition of combat crews has significantly thinned. The number of combat crews of fire guards decreased to 2 - 3 people. instead of the standard number of 6 - 9 people.

In many cities, there has been a reduction in object fire departments, which could not but affect the efficiency of fire departments and, consequently, the effectiveness of fire fighting. The staffing of the main types of fire fighting equipment and equipment has deteriorated. By the beginning of 2000, the share of funds allocated for their supply amounted to 8 - 10% of the minimum requirement. Fire departments are equipped with 45% fire trucks and 70% with means personal protection. However, up to 30% technical means has expired. The fire brigade has only 55% of the required number of fire stations, of which almost half are in need of major repairs.

a lack of individual means protection led to an increase in the incidence of respiratory organs of firefighters: in 1999, compared with the previous year, it increased by 6%. Significantly increased the percentage of injuries. So, in comparison with 1996, when the industrial injury rate was 4.8 people. per 1,000 employees, in 1999 it already reached 6.74.

The change in the forms of ownership of a number of enterprises led to the loss of the status of many departmental regulations, and sharply reduced the efficiency of work in the implementation of the functions of the GPN. The state of fire safety in the country can be judged by the following data. Despite a slight decrease in the total number of fires (this trend has been observed since 1995), 259.4 thousand fires were registered in 1999, in which 14.9 thousand people died. The country has become the undisputed world "leader" in these indicators, ahead of the developed countries of the world by 5-12 times. In 2000, 16264 people already died from fire. This figure significantly exceeded the disappointing forecast of F.M. Demidov, who seemed to be in the late 1990s. overly exaggerated and unrealistic. In the 1970s the death of people from fires did not exceed 4 thousand people. This was one of the lowest rates in developed countries!

An increase in the number of fires indicates a weakening of the fire department, its supervisory function, and a decrease in the efficiency of fire detection and extinguishing systems. One of the leading reasons for this negative trend should be considered the deterioration of the socio-economic level of the population and the change in cultural values. In this situation, the issues of ensuring fire safety are lost in the whole complex of unresolved problems for the population as a whole and for each person individually. More than half of those killed in fires in 2000 (58%) belonged to disadvantaged social strata of society (pensioners and people without specific occupations); 78% of this category of persons died while intoxicated. About 90% of the dead are victims of fires in the residential sector, which account for 73% of all fires.

The science of fire safety is also going through hard times. Fundamental and exploratory research, previously funded under the R&D plan by the state, turned out to be without proper support.

There was a noticeable outflow of qualified personnel, the younger generation of scientists. A negative situation is being created: fewer and fewer people remain in scientific institutions who have accumulated the experience of their teachers, and there are not enough young scientists who are able to adopt and develop this experience. On the situation in the country in the first year of the 21st century. E.A. quite specifically stated Serebrennikov: "The scale of what is happening shows that the issues of ensuring fire safety are acquiring the character of a national problem unconscious by society." The current stage of development of the fire business, which is largely contradictory, should be considered as a transitional period to the subsequent development of the fire safety system.

To verify this, let's look at key points development of fire fighting in Russia. Under the Soviet regime, fire safety became a public matter, one of the most important functions of the state. At this time, a unified system for ensuring the country's fire safety is being formed.

The combination of state ownership with the state fire brigade, strict control over the execution of decisions made it possible in the 1950s. create one of the most powerful fire safety systems in the world. At the same time, along with the improvement and undoubted development of all types of activities in the field of fire safety, important steps were taken in the formation public consciousness on the need to comply with fire safety measures by each member of society.

2. The problem of overcoming the crisis of the fire safety system

On August 23, 1993, the Council of Ministers of the Russian Federation, by Decree No. 849, transformed the Fire and Rescue Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation into the State Fire Service (SFS) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. A number of fundamentally new tasks have been set before the State Fire Service, incl. development of government measures regulation in the field of fire safety, development and implementation of scientific and technical policy, coordination of fire prevention activities of ministries and departments. The tasks of the State Tax Inspectorate have changed significantly, for which a number of new functions and rights have been established in the field of product certification and licensing certain types activities, works and services in fire safety.

With the emergence of enterprises various forms property and market relations, the organization of protection of objects from fires is changing. GUGPS developed the "Manual on the organization of the work of the State Fire Service at the facilities under the contracts." The main document regulating the relationship between departments and the administration of facilities is the contract. On the initiative and at the expense of the administration, the subdivisions of the State Fire Service under the contract provide services to enterprises in the organization and conduct of fire and preventive maintenance, priority emergency rescue operations.

The last years of the XX century. "marked" by certain difficulties (problems of financing, technical equipment, staffing with the necessary qualifications, etc.); anticipating, according to historical patterns, a new qualitative leap in the development of fire protection. With the emerging process of economic stabilization in the Russian state, emerging in the new millennium, in connection with the transfer of the GPS system to the jurisdiction of the Russian Emergencies Ministry (Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 1309 of November 9, 2001), positive trends have emerged in the activities of the fire service. The volume of financing has increased, funds have been allocated for the purchase of equipment, the functions of individual departments have expanded, the remuneration of employees of the State Border Service has increased, etc.

However, the problem of insufficient funding and technical equipment in the 1990s. became chronic. Russian firefighters extinguish 90% - 95% of all emerging fires, while their resource support is only 40% of the total resources allocated in the country for firefighting purposes. The rest are distributed to other departments. The load on combat crews has sharply increased. With the transfer of combat crews to four shift duty, the staffing on fire trucks is 50%. At least 50 thousand units of additional strength are required to strengthen existing units and create emergency rescue structures. The most real and fastest way out of this crisis is the recognition of service in the bodies and divisions of firefighting and emergency rescue operations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia as an alternative military service. But this issue is still in the stage of drafting a draft law on alternative service.

The economic crisis in Russia did not allow us to get down to the solution of these urgent issues. New problems have arisen that have hampered the work of the fire department. In particular, the legal unregulated activity of fire services and the economic mechanism for fulfilling fire safety requirements and the unsatisfactory state of the production of fire-technical products. The rate of increase in the number of fires in cities and rural areas has increased. However, these indicators could have been even more difficult if it were not for the selfless work of the fire brigade personnel.

The personnel of the fire brigade, despite the socio-economic difficulties, brought up on the humane principle of saving people, continues to work in the traditions of Russian firefighters. In 2001 alone, fire departments went out more than 1 million times to put out fires and carry out emergency rescue operations. During the hostilities, they saved more than 48.9 thousand people. and prevented the destruction of material assets in the amount of 14.3 billion rubles. Despite the continued upward trend in the number of deaths in the fire - in 2001 this figure reached 18.3 thousand people. - the total number of fires that have occurred compared to previous years has essentially stabilized. Employees of the State Fire Supervision have prevented more than 300 thousand fires and saved material assets worth 85 billion rubles.

After the adoption of the Federal Law "On Fire Safety" in 1994, the legislative and other normative base, which included 16 federal laws and more than 400 by-laws. New activities such as certification and licensing began to develop, which had a positive impact on the fire safety of facilities. The difficult situation in the country with fire safety gave a new impetus to the development of volunteerism (as it has happened more than once in Russian history).

If in 1991 - 1993. there was a question of preserving the VDPO and its staff from complete collapse, then already in 1994-1995. work was underway to restore territorial councils and enterprises, strengthen the economic base, and develop organizational and mass work. The activities of the teams of young firefighters resumed, competitions in fire-applied sports began to be held, work was launched to teach the population the rules of fire safety. In 2001, the 9th Congress of the VDPO was held, at which important decisions were made and new tasks were set.

It should also be noted that, despite the loss of many enterprises for the development of fire-fighting equipment, due to the collapse of the USSR, Russian industry is able to produce modern fire equipment, fully satisfying the needs of the fire department. Already in 2000, about 70 enterprises for the production of fire equipment and fire-technical equipment were involved. The Argus-Spectrum organization has achieved great success in the production of fire automatics systems. Its products have become so reliable that manufacturers guarantee the reliability of its work for a long time. Pozhservice holding has achieved great success in the field of sales of fire-technical products.

As a result of the conversion, the Posevninsk plant has mastered the production of tankers, the production of fire trucks has begun at the Irkutsk production association Vostok, Pozhtekhnika OJSC has begun the production of automatic ladders and car lifts AL-50 and AKP-50, the Design Bureau named after. Makeev, Zhukovsky Machine-Building Plant and Other enterprises. By 2001, the list of models of fire trucks from 60 (1998) reached 90. However, enterprises that are ready to provide the fire department with the necessary equipment and equipment use their potential by less than 10%. The reason for this is limited funding from the federal budget, funds of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, local governments and enterprises for the purpose of technical equipment of the fire department.

Not only preserved, but also continue to develop certain areas scientific activity. Along with the improvement of developments in the field of certification, licensing, work continues to create a regulatory framework; on fire protection specific objects financed by the customer, for training personnel for fire protection, for the implementation of information and communication technologies, as well as other types of research that do not require large expenses or have a sufficient number of developments. The economic situation and the change in the forms of ownership put forward a number of topical scientific problems, among which it should be noted the optimization technical solutions and organizational measures providing fire safety of the facility at optimal cost; development of a set of regulatory legal acts for the supervision of small businesses.

During the transitional period of economic transformations in the state, small but mobile research teams, staffed by highly qualified specialists capable of solving a wide range of scientific and applied problems, received certain prospects. Given positive aspects The development of certain issues of ensuring fire safety led to the need to develop a new approach to solving this problem.

Without the economic stability of the state, it is difficult to raise the level of "unproductive" industries, which include the fire department. However, humanity, having entered into new Age global man-made and political cataclysms, is forced to make appropriate decisions. The Chernobyl tragedy, a series of large-scale fires belonging to the category of emergencies, and other facts have shown the need to create in Russia a new organizational and managerial structure that will effectively perform not only firefighting, but also fire and rescue functions in emergency situations. in full rescue operations.

In the late 1980s measures were taken to create specialized detachments and units for carrying out priority rescue operations. However, they did not receive proper development, but they demonstrated a possible direction for the development of fire fighting by Decree No. 1309 of the President of the Russian Federation of November 9, 2001. The State Fire Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation was transformed into the State Fire Service of the Ministry of the Russian Federation for civil defense, emergencies and elimination of consequences of natural disasters.

The given historical patterns of development of fire protection give grounds to state the following fact: since 2001, the state fire service of Russia has entered a new period of development, which can be designated as the period of organization of the fire and rescue service. AT modern conditions world development (terrorism, the possibility of global catastrophes, etc.), where a multifunctional approach is required in the elimination of accidents, the creation of a new structure that combines the efforts of various rescue services under a single leadership is a natural process for improving the management system, which increases the safety of the population and Russia as a whole.

It is important to note that the birth of a unified fire and rescue service does not change the responsibility acquired over many generations of firefighters for saving people and preserving material values ​​from disasters brought by fire. Functions and tasks defined for rescuers and firefighters are homogeneous, the main priority is given to saving lives and maintaining people's health. The task of creating a unified fire and rescue service, therefore, is not of a philosophical or ideological nature, but most likely has a purely technical focus, ”said one of the leading experts in the field of fire safety, head of VNIIPO EMERCOM of Russia, major general of internal service, doctor of technical sciences N.P. Kopylov.

By decree of the President of the Russian Federation, the former head of the Main Directorate of State Fire Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Lieutenant General of the Internal Service, E.A. Serebrennikov is appointed Deputy Minister of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense, Emergencies and Disaster Relief (2002). E.A. Serebrennikov was directly involved in the formation legislative framework in the field of fire safety (Federal Law "On Fire Safety", "On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation in connection with the adoption federal law"On fire safety", etc.). Under the leadership of E.A. Serebrennikov, the Fire Safety Fund was created, the foundations of fire insurance were laid, licensing and certification systems in the field of fire safety are operating and developing. In 1995, E.A. Serebrennikov led the work on the restoration of the State Fire Service in the Chechen Republic, ensured the successful functioning of the combined detachment of the GUGPS on its territory, which contributed to the preservation of the industrial potential and housing stock of the republic. They showed organizational skills, determination and professionalism in extinguishing complex fires in administrative buildings Department of Maritime Transport of the Ministry of Transport (February 1998), RAO "UES of Russia" (June 1998), located in Moscow, as well as in the ammunition depot of the Sverdlovsk Region (August 1998). He was awarded the Order of Courage and medals.

In 2002, Major General of the Internal Service Valery Timofeevich Kishkurno was appointed head of the Main Directorate of the State Fire Service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, until that time he had headed the special fire protection of Russia for many years. After his death in 2003, this position was taken by Major General of the Internal Service Alexander Petrovich Chupriyan. In 2005, the GUGPS of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia was abolished as part of the process of reorganizing the fire department in the department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

Conclusion

In recent years, the Russian fire brigade has been in a state of permanent crisis. The problem of technical equipment, staffing of fire brigades with personnel, and especially ordinary fighters, has become chronic and widespread. Periodic increases in cash payments to employees of the State Fire Service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations do not contribute to staff retention. Their turnover is due not only to low incomes in comparison with other categories of the Russian population. It's about about the poor technical equipment and armament of fire guards and depots, increased physical and moral and psychological stress, the lack of guarantees of social security for the employees of the State Fire Service from the state and local authorities.

Staff turnover is due to the fact that the most qualified specialists go to work in private corporations and companies that pay more attention to the above problems than in the state fire service. The supply of fire equipment and weapons is now largely associated with the import of samples from abroad, which further undermines the position of Russian manufacturers of fire equipment, which do not have proper support from the state and are forced to limit the production of their products.

The transition of the State Fire Service to the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia was aimed at increasing the professionalism of the State Fire Service employees and their specialization in rescue work. The reform of the fire department in the department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations does not lead to an increase in the combat effectiveness of units and divisions, since the process of its further decentralization is underway. In the future, it is planned to divide the fire department into municipal and federal service, which can only lead to an increase in fires in the face of the weakening of municipal formations, the maintenance of which the state has actually refused.

The removal of criminal cases on fires from the responsibility of inspectors of the State Fire Protection Service threatens with negative consequences. The lack of professionalism of police and prosecutors in investigating the causes of fires can lead to an increase in the precedents of deliberate arson. The absence of the possibility of administrative and judicial influence of the inspectors of the State Patrol Service on the management of private and state enterprises and organizations provokes the latter to evade the implementation of measures to comply with fire safety rules. This situation can lead to a sharp increase in the number of fires.

The historical experience of the development of the Russian fire protection shows that the removal of state power from the direct solution of fire safety problems and the shifting of responsibility for extinguishing fires to local authorities, while simultaneously decentralizing the fire protection, led to an increase in the number of fires and the associated scale of material losses and deaths.

Local authorities in Russia have never had sufficient capacity to prevent and extinguish fires, relying only on own forces. The real unification of the efforts of the state and society in Russia created favorable conditions for the development of domestic fire protection.

Fire protection appeared in ancient Moscow. There was a so-called "fire service". From the 16th century, the Zemsky order was responsible for fire protection. Professional fire protection appeared in Moscow on May 31, 1804 by decree of Emperor Alexander.

Ancient Moscow was built up mainly wooden houses. Then there was a "fire service", which was carried by the inhabitants of the city. The townspeople who performed this duty (one person from 10 yards) had to conduct rounds at night with their fire equipment. At the end of the 15th century, in order to fire safety there were attempts to demolish all the wooden buildings near the Kremlin.

Since the 16th century, the Zemsky order has been responsible for fire safety and extinguishing fires. In the event of a fire, teams of lower servants (yaryzhek) and archers were sent to the place of ignition. Fire brigades had water barrels, pumps, ladders, hooks and other equipment.

On April 30, 1649, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich signed a document called "Order on the City Deanery." For the first time in Moscow, this order introduced a constant, round-the-clock duty of fire patrols, which were ordered not only to take an active part in extinguishing fires, but also to monitor compliance with the fire safety rules that existed at that time. For fire safety purposes, Peter I tried to limit the construction wooden houses in Moscow. Water intake wells appeared on the streets of the city, and later - fire columns.

In 1792, the fire brigades were transferred to the police. On May 31, 1804, by decree of Emperor Alexander I, a professional fire department appeared in Moscow, and the “fire duty” was removed from the townspeople. Fire brigades were located in special movable yards, where horse-drawn fire wagons and equipment were located. Each part was led by a fireman. Watchtowers were built to monitor fires in units. When a fire was detected, the sentry gave a signal, 2.5 minutes were given to prepare the convoy, after which it went to extinguish.

In 1918, the Fire Department of the Main Department of Internal Affairs of the Moscow City Executive Committee was formed in Moscow. By 1926, horse-drawn wagons were replaced by fire trucks with special ladders, pumps, tanks and other extinguishing agents. In the 1930s, the city was actively building fire stations, expanding water supply network, street hydrants were arranged. During the Great Patriotic War, fires from German incendiary bombs were quickly extinguished by the fire brigade.

Since 1965, units and subunits of the paramilitary fire brigade of Moscow began to be staffed from persons called up for active duty. military service. Prior to this, fire departments were formed from long-term soldiers. The conscription of conscripts to the Moscow fire departments continued in 1996, when 900 people were called up to the fire departments of the capital. The firefighters lived in the barracks. Unauthorized abandonment of the unit by firefighters was a crime. Conscripts were no longer sent to fire departments in the early 2000s.

By the end of the 20th century, the fire departments of the city were equipped with pumps, tank trucks, special machines and devices for extinguishing fires. Helicopters are used to fight the fire.

After the revolution of 1917, the new government gave the issue of creating a new state fire department great importance. Already on April 17, 1918, a decree "On the organization of state measures to combat fire" was issued, signed by Lenin. Since that day, the history of the Soviet fire service, which became the successor to the Russian fire department, has been leading its history.

After graduation civil war the fire service began to be equipped with new equipment. In 1922, there were already 30 fire trucks in Moscow, although most of them were without a pump. But already in 1926, there were 85 fire trucks in the city, of which 32 had fire pumps, and 12 were equipped with mechanical ladders. And by the mid-30s, horse traction in fire brigades had gone down in history.

It is worth noting the fact that almost from the very beginning of its work, since 1920, the Fire Department was transferred to the Main Directorate of Public Utilities of the NKVD of the RSFSR, under which the Central Fire Department was created. And in 1934, the Main Directorate of Fire Protection was organized as part of the NKVD of the USSR. For the protection of fire hazardous and especially important industrial facilities and large administrative centers, a militarized Fire Guard of the NKVD was created. Until 2002, the fire brigade was subordinate to the internal affairs bodies.

On July 18, 1927, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR approved the Regulations on the Bodies of the State Fire Supervision in the RSFSR, which determined the functions, rights and obligations of employees of the State Fire Supervision, and on January 23, 1928, by a circular of the NKVD and the People's Commissariat of Justice of the RSFSR, the bodies of the State Fire Supervision was granted the right to independently conduct an inquiry into cases of violation of fire regulations.

Back in 1924, the first fire technical school opened in Leningrad. In 1936, the Central Research Fire Laboratory was created. In 1937, the laboratory was reorganized into the Central Research Institute of Fire Defense, which already in the pre-war years did a lot of work on the design of new types of fire equipment, the development of means and methods for extinguishing fires.

By the same time, firefighters began to receive special vehicles, chemical and carbon dioxide fire extinguishing, searchlights, etc. The fire service of the country withstood the tests during the Great Patriotic War with honor, preserving a huge number of military and civilian facilities.

Fire truck.

In 1947, on the basis of the Moscow Fire-Technical School, the Higher Fire-Technical Courses (VPTK) were organized. As a result measures taken in the USSR there was a whole network of fire-technical educational institutions. Six fire-technical schools (in Leningrad, Sverdlovsk, Kharkov, Lvov, Ivanov and Irkutsk) trained firefighters of medium qualification. Correspondence departments existed at schools. In a number of cities, fire technical schools were established. On the basis of the VPTK, in 1957, the faculty of fire fighting and safety engineers was formed, which became part of high school Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. Since 1960, the postgraduate school of the Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs began to train scientific and pedagogical personnel for the Faculty of Fire and Safety Engineers.

It was the powerful base of the fire service, together with the organization of civil defense, that made it possible to cope with the massive fires of 1972. Then forest and peat fires covered more than a dozen regions of the central part of Russia. The fire blazed on an area of ​​1,800 thousand hectares. In the Gorky region, 460 thousand hectares of forest burned out, in the Mari Autonomous Republic - 195 thousand, in the Moscow and Penza regions - 25 thousand each. That year, spring and summer passed without rain. The temperature in the shade was over 30 degrees. Due to the unusually dry and hot weather, which persisted for a long time in many regions of the central part of Russia, massive forest and peat fires broke out already in July, which took on the character in August. natural disaster. In the third decade of August, over 650,000 hectares of forest, about 35,000 hectares of peatlands, and 4,900 piles of peat were engulfed in fire in these regions.

When the whole suburbs began to smoke, the regional committee of the CPSU first of all created a headquarters for fighting fires. It was headed by the first secretary of the regional committee V.I. Konotop. They raised the people's controllers to their feet. The whole country helped fight the fire. The then Minister of Defense, Marshal Grechko, temporarily moved to Shatura, and Konotop also moved there. There was a system that had everything: people, technology, and discipline. And, nevertheless, only in the Moscow region burned down 19 villages. More than 70,000 people, including 24,000 servicemen, took part in extinguishing the fires. The fire gathered a terrible harvest: in the Moscow region, forest and peat fires claimed the lives of 104 people. There was so much smoke that the Ministry of Railways had to change train routes on the outskirts of the capital.

At a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the question was considered: why did fires spread from peatlands to forests? The fact that the meeting of the highest political body of the country entrusted the first deputy minister of defense of the USSR to the general leadership of the elimination of fires speaks of what tough measures were taken. The burning areas were divided into squares, 9 specially mobilized pipeline brigades were brought there. Water was supplied through pipes continuously in any direction, and the outcome of the "battle" was a foregone conclusion. The peat bogs were literally “packed” with a thick layer of water, and then the fire in the forests was knocked down.

During the period greatest development about 360,000 people were involved in the fight against fires at a time, including over 100,000 military personnel of the civil defense troops, engineering and other troops, as well as up to 15,000 units of earth-moving and other equipment.

Fire ladder truck AL-30. Early 80s.

In the first half of the 1980s, the fire brigade of the USSR had about 200,000 people, plus about 150,000 paramilitary fire brigade workers. They were armed with about 30 thousand units of fire vehicles for various purposes.

All this clearly showed that by that time a fire safety system had been created in the country, which made it possible to successfully deal with all possible types fires. The only pity is that during the years of "reforms" this system was largely destroyed by "effective managers and managers." And today, unfortunately, the country is reaping the fruits of this.

Taking under its unity of command all the activities of the fire department, the central fire department (CPO) began to organize its structure. In the provinces and city departments of public utilities, subdivisions were created, and the positions of fire commissioners were introduced at enterprises. In October 1920, the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic issued an order on the inadmissibility of unauthorized persons interfering in fire extinguishing activities.

In 1920 in major cities(in Moscow, Petrograd and Kyiv), the replacement of horse rulers with cars began. Since there were no production enterprises in the RSFSR yet, cars were purchased abroad. In order to ensure that the teams of county towns and rural areas are equipped with equestrian rulers, in accordance with the Decree of the Council of Labor and Defense (STO) of May 18, 1921, 3,000 horses were mobilized and assigned to the population.

In order to strengthen the fight against fires and organize measures to prevent them, by the Decree of the STO of August 23, 1921, "fire troikas" were created under the NKVD: under the NKVD - a commission consisting of representatives of the People's Commissariat of Labour, the Cheka and the NKVD; at fire departments - as part of representatives of the labor department, the Cheka and fire departments. By the end of 1921, the fire protection of the republic began to be restored on the principles of unity of command with strict discipline and subordination to the central fire department (CPO).

As a result of the organizational and technical measures carried out by the CPO, the number of fires in cities decreased, compared with pre-revolutionary times, their number decreased by 2 times and amounted to 4000 per year.

Successful fight against fires during this period was the active transition of city fire brigades to automatic traction. The impetus for this very timely technical re-equipment was “contributed” by the famine that struck the cities and villages of the republic and claimed a significant part of the livestock, including horse carts.

Fire brigades were replenished mainly with cars decommissioned by the military department. From several damaged ones, one working one had to be assembled.

However, despite the above difficulties, in the 1920s, city fire brigades were equipped with cars that not only accelerated the arrival at fires, but, thanks to the inexhaustible minds of Russian craftsmen, were adapted to supply water even through hand pipes.

Things were much worse in rural areas, where fires occurred 15 times more often than urban ones, but neither equipment nor combat-ready squads were clearly enough to fight the fire.

In 1924, 68,464 rural fires were registered. This problem required an immediate solution.

During this period, industrial output increased at a high rate (in 1922 it amounted to 30.3%; in 1923 - 52.9%; 1924 - 14.6%; 1925 - 66.1%). Dozens were commissioned large factories, factories, restored mines, mines, oil industry. Launched new products.

Taking a course towards industrialization, the country turned into a large construction site. Hundreds of new facilities with modern material and technical base were erected. New industries have appeared, including fire hazardous ones.

The situation required the improvement of the fire safety system, which in a short time should “catch up” with the pace of construction of new facilities and solve the old problem of fighting fires in rural areas.

It was necessary to increase the activity of the work of the central fire department (CPO), to supplement the ranks of fire protection workers with engineering and technical personnel; engage the public and rebuild the volunteer movement; create a scientific and technical basis for further improvement of fire safety; create enterprises specializing in the manufacture of fire equipment. The promotion of fire safety was also considered an important task.

In 1923, the first All-Russian Fire Conference took place, at which the main directions for the development of fire protection were formulated:

1. Organization of state fire supervision;
2. Training of fire-technical personnel;
3. Introduction of state accounting of all fires and their unprofitability for the national economy;
4. Restoration of professional and voluntary fire organizations, strengthening of their personnel and financial situation;
5. Restoration of the production of fire equipment and equipment;
6. Establishment of departmental fire brigades and unification of their activities;
7. Conducting broad propaganda among the masses of the working and peasant population, etc.

The new leadership of the CPO set a course for the revival, activation of work and expansion of the number of voluntary teams. On July 11, 1924, the first Charter of the Volunteer Fire Society was approved. This gave a powerful impetus to the revival of volunteerism. By 1929, there were 35,000 voluntary fire brigades in the country, numbering 1 million people.

The most important legislative act in the field of firefighting became the Regulation "On the bodies of state fire supervision of the RSFSR", approved by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR on June 18, 1927. This document legally approves the centralization of the management of the fire department and the functions of the state fire supervision. The regulation firmly establishes the management of firefighting in the RSFSR by the NKVD of the RSFSR and by the people's commissariats of internal affairs of the autonomous republics.

The main functions of the Central Fire Department (CPO) are:

1. Development of the state fire prevention plan and monitoring its implementation;
2. Management, supervision and control over the state of the fire protection and the activities of communal, departmental and public fire organizations, as well as the unification of their work.

The Regulation reserves for the CPO the issues of technical normalization of inventory, equipment, equipment and general control and supervision of their quality; general technical guidance introduction of automatic fire extinguishing, fire alarm and other fire fighting equipment; promoting the development of fire-technical equipment and education; general accounting of fire and technical forces; consideration of charters for voluntary fire organizations; approval of fire safety standards.

The regulation provided for the assignment of local fire management to the leadership of the executive committees, which involved the authorities in the management and organization of the fire department and made them responsible for fire safety.

This document became the guideline for the further development of the country's fire protection, legislatively securing its scope of activity, including the conduct of preventive measures, which subsequently served to create an entire structure of the state fire supervision (SFN).

By 1930, 15 regional one-year courses and 52 short-term courses for rural firefighters were training.

The production of fire extinguishers of various brands has been adjusted. Two types have been produced foam fire extinguishers. One of the important scientific and technical achievements in the field of fire safety was the production of electrical (automatic) fire alarms.

So from 1925 to 1930, the production of cars increased from 21 to 650 (more than 30 times); motor fire pumps - from 1 to 350, hand fire pumps from 4,000 to 30,000, fire extinguishers from 30,000 to 60,000, sprinklers from 20,000 to 100,000 (5 times).

At the stage of intensive development of the USSR, the tasks assigned to the fire department were completed. 1,500 large industrial enterprises appeared in the country, about 100 new cities were built, new industries arose: tractor, aviation, chemical - the number of fires in the country by 1930 compared to 1927 decreased by 1.5 times - from 150,580 to 100,403.

The end of the 1920s was marked by the beginning of a wave of mass repressions. The beginning was laid by the collectivization campaign, which provoked a protest from the prosperous peasantry. In 1930 alone, more than 2,000 anti-collective-farm uprisings arose in the villages. 382 thousand families were dispossessed and evicted to remote areas. The epidemic of class struggle spread to the city as well. In a fit of general labor enthusiasm, any violation or non-fulfillment of the plan could be considered as deliberate actions to undermine socialist transformations. The situation was fueled by cruel demands for discipline, the aggravation of the inner-party struggle, and the strengthening of the role of the party leadership. Punishments for violation of discipline, non-fulfillment of the plan, for accidents have become tougher. In particular, a fire that broke out at an enterprise could be considered as sabotage, and in this case its leader was sentenced to be shot.

As a result of such measures, by 1930 the number of convicts in the USSR more than doubled compared to 1923, from 79,947 to 171,251 (by 1941, the number of repressed reached 2,300,000 people).

Since December 1931, the Central Fire Department began to work. testing laboratory on the territory of the Moscow fire brigade. The laboratory conducted research on fire pumps and hoses, chemical fire extinguishers, alarm devices, and fire-resistant materials. In 1934, it was transformed into the Central Research Laboratory. On September 1, 1933, a department for training specialists in the field of fire safety was formed at the Leningrad Institute of Municipal Construction Engineers, and the date should be considered the date of the creation of the system of higher fire and technical education, which now represents the head educational institution– Academy of the State Fire Service (SFS).

Simultaneously with the transfer of the fire brigade to the jurisdiction of the NKKH (People's Commissariat for Communal Services, 1931), a paramilitary fire brigade is organized under the OGPU to protect strategic facilities.

Formation and development of fire protection

With the formation of the NKVD of the USSR on July 10, 1934, the newly created Main Directorate of Fire Protection became part of it.

In the People's Commissariat for Mechanical Engineering (1938), a special Glavk was created, whose task was to replace outdated fire equipment with modern ones. Outdated building codes and regulations have been revised. The new standard 90015-39, which regulates fire safety requirements in construction, has significantly strengthened fire prevention work.

During this period, compared with the 20s vigorous activity in the field of development of fire protection, with the exception of educational and scientific fields stopped for many reasons. In particular, the production of fire trucks, fire alarms, sprinklers was reduced, and the production of motor pumps was stopped.

Nevertheless, during this period, the Moscow and Gorky Automobile Plants came into operation, on the chassis of which fire pumps began to be produced: and ZiS-11 (auto pump PMZ-1). Until the 50s of the 20th century, these machines were in service with the fire department.

Fire truck GAZ, model 1 (PMG-1) on the GAZ-AA chassis

By a Government Decree, educational fire-technical institutions were transferred to the state budget which made it possible to improve the educational base.

In the structure of the NKVD, 20 schools were opened for the training of command personnel, another 46 schools for the training of junior commanders.

In 1940, the “Combat Regulations for the Fire Protection”, “The Regulations for the Internal Service in the Fire Protection” and a number of other documents regulating the activities of the fire protection were put into effect. The fire departments receive Soviet fire trucks, mechanical ladders, and smoke exhausters. Grabovsky, Topkinsky, Moscow plants of fire-fighting equipment started working at full capacity. Enterprises began to equip primary means fire extinguishing, sprinkler and deluge installations.

The layout of the heavy-duty NATI autopump with two pumping units on the YAG-10 chassis (manufactured by the Moscow plant of fire engines in the 30s)

During the period from 1917 to 1940, the fire department went through not only the stage of formation, but also developed at a rapid pace following the growth of the Soviet economy. As a result of a gigantic industrial leap in the country during the period 1928-1941, about 9 thousand large and medium-sized enterprises were built in the USSR, and the growth rate of the economy was 2 times higher than that of 1900-1913, when the industrial development of tsarist Russia was at its highest pace. The Soviet Union became one of the 3-4 countries in the world capable of producing any kind of industrial product.

In protecting objects of the Soviet economy from fires, the country's fire department has achieved significant success. This was facilitated by radical changes in all organizational and technical areas.

For the first time in the history of the Russian state, the problem of fire safety has acquired national significance. The fire department has become public service financed from the national budget. People's property began to be protected from fire, which significantly increased the already high, accumulated by whole generations, moral and strong-willed spirit of workers in this heroic profession. The assignment of responsibility for the fire safety of enterprises to their managers has significantly increased the responsibility and discipline among workers and employees. Gospozhnadzor actively earned. The social roots of the causes of fires - negligence, irresponsibility, indifference to the results of labor, sabotage - were reduced to a minimum. All this contributed to a decrease in the number of emerging fires from 150.6 thousand (1927) to 71.8 thousand (1940).

The enormity of the construction of the first five-year plans and the requirement of the state to ensure the fire safety of facilities gave impetus to the creation of new fire equipment, effective organization of fire fighting. In addition to traditional lines and auto pumps, ambulances and others, fire brigades are armed with tank trucks, auxiliary passages, including lighting and communications, smoke removal equipment, foam extinguishing, lifting equipment, for transporting frozen hoses. Enterprises producing the entire range of fire-technical products were launched. The systematic training of engineering and technical personnel began, fire science began to gain strength.

The fire brigade approached the severe trials of wartime (WWII) prepared.