Activities of the fire Protection Units of the MOGP of the Ukrainian SSR in Fighting Fires in the Mid-1960s.

Abstract

The article highlights the main aspects of the activities of the fire protection units of the Ministry of Public Order of the Ukrainian SSR in combating fires in the mid-1960s. Materials on this problem, which were received by this ministry, indicate a significant number of fires in the territory of the republic during the specified period. Analysis of these extraordinary events shows that the main violations were committed by employees of institutions and enterprises due to non-compliance with fire safety requirements, violations of labor and production discipline. Due attention was not paid to the inspection of equipment, repairs were carried out untimely.Cases of fires showed that business entities were not developing fire safety measures at the proper level, which did not cover all the factors that could lead to fires. As a result of the fires, a lot of property was destroyed, significant damage was caused to state institutions and organizations, collective farms and state farms. In a number of regions of the republic, the issues of organizing fire extinguishing in cities have not yet been sufficiently resolved, especially in terms of high-quality development of the necessary operational documentation and organization of the garrison service.Cases were not eliminated when fires developed due to the lack of qualified leadership of units, ignorance of the commanding staff of the facility, slow build-up of forces, disorganized work of combat crews. The paramilitary fire protection units of the Ministry of Public Order showed insufficient qualifications in extinguishing fires and eliminating their consequences. This especially concerned the combat capability of the fire and guard protection of collective farms. The police played a significant role in extinguishing fires. Their main task, together with firefighters, was to rescue people who were in danger, assist in the localization and elimination of fires, as well as ensure the safety of personnel. On January 14, 1967, the USSR Ministry of Public Order approved the Instruction “On the Procedure for Organizing the Paramilitary Fire Protection of the Ministry of Public Order of the USSR in Cities, at Industrial Enterprises and Other Objects of the National Economy”. This document defined the principles of formation and tasks of fire protection units. During this period, fire-technical commissions began to be widely introduced in the Ukrainian SSR, especially at enterprises, which involved engineers, technologists and technicians of plants and factories.This meant the introduction of a new form of preventive work, based on the active participation of engineering and technical personnel in the development of measures aimed at reducing fire danger. An important element of preventive fire prevention activities remained explanatory work and attempts to establish stricter control over compliance with fire regulations. At that time, this direction in the work of fire protection was embodied in the implementation of a fire-technical minimum among the population of cities and villages.