The history of the formation of the fire department in russia

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The history of the formation of the fire department in Russia

Fires in Russia have long been one of the most serious disasters. From time immemorial, the element of fire destroyed everything in its path, supernatural forces were attributed to the fire, it was considered "Heavenly punishment for human sins."
Ancient chronicles contain descriptions of grandiose fires that swept away entire cities. According to the observations of historians, up to the 15th century, in Russia a fire in a city was considered large if several thousand courtyards were burnt down. The fire, which destroyed 100-200 households, was not even mentioned. The simplicity of the construction of residential buildings, the excess of building material (there was plenty of wood) made it possible to easily restore the affected villages. Therefore, even then there was a disdainful attitude of the population towards fire safety measures.

However, the enlargement of cities, the development of means of production led to the fact that the losses from fires became more and more tangible every year.
In 1493, the Moscow white-stone Kremlin blazed twice due to the burning of numerous wooden buildings that came close to its walls. Recognizing that the most common cause of fires is the carelessness of the population when handling fire, Ivan III gave legislative force to the fight against fires from domestic causes. The first fire safety regulations, published in 1504, prescribed: not to heat huts and baths in summer unless absolutely necessary, not to keep fires in houses in the evenings (torches, lamps, candles); blacksmiths, potters, gunsmiths to carry out their work away from buildings. It was forbidden in the city to engage in glass production, which was considered very fire hazardous, smoking tobacco was strictly persecuted.
The adoption of legislative acts in the field of fire safety in the 15th-16th centuries influenced the creations of architects and builders. Construction in Moscow has now begun from bricks and the necessary fire safety measures were taken into account when designing buildings.
Since 1583, Moscow legislative acts concerning fire safety rules become mandatory for other settlements as well.
In 1550, archers began to be sent to extinguish fires in Moscow, and in the twenties of the 17th century, the first fire brigade was created in the capital.

In 1649, in Russia, two decrees were adopted that were related to firefighting. The "Order of the City Deanery" ordered all wealthy people to keep copper water pipes and wooden buckets in their yards. Residents with average and low incomes were supposed to keep one such pipe for five yards. Everyone should have had buckets. All the courtyards of Moscow were distributed in parts, and the lists of people who were supposed to follow the fire with a supply of water were kept in the Zemsky Prikaz. This "Order" for the first time in Russia established rules for officials responsible for fire safety.
The second document, dated the same year, is the Code of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. It contained a number of articles that determined the rules for dealing with fire. The Code introduced responsibility for arson and established a distinction between careless handling of fire and arson. In the event of a fire, through negligence, losses were collected from the culprit in the amount of "what the Emperor will indicate." For arson, the punishment was the most severe; it was ordered to burn the "incendiaries" (arsonists). After 5 years, this article was amended: burning at the stake was replaced by a gallows.
Peter I made a great contribution to the development of firefighting. He understood perfectly well that the government was obliged to take care of the organization of fire protection and the elimination of the causes of fires, therefore, he paid special attention to the development of measures to prevent fires. During his reign, new fire safety regulations were introduced, borrowed from Holland. In 1701, a decree was issued, which commanded in all cities of Russia “not to build a wooden structure, but to build stone houses or, at least, huts, and to build not among courtyards, as was the case in the old days, but linearly along the streets and lanes ". In 1736, norms were introduced for the construction of fire walls (firewalls). Decrees have been issued to protect forests from fires, as well as prescriptions for construction in villages and hamlets.
During the reign of Peter the Great, one of the first professional fire brigades was created, the first fire station was built at the Admiralty, fire pumps with leather hoses and copper hose lines were purchased. And to this day, one of Peter's decrees remains relevant: "... and protect the wealth of the Russian state from the fire ...".
By a decree of November 29, 1802, a permanent fire brigade was organized at congresses in St. Petersburg, consisting of soldiers of the internal guard. By a tsar's decree in 1804, a full-time fire brigade was created in Moscow as well.
A new page in the prevention of fires and the promotion of fire safety measures among the population can be considered the appearance in Russia in the middle of the 19th century of voluntary fire brigades, which were organized by the residents of cities and other villages themselves. A serious contribution to the development of fire-prevention propaganda in the country was the books of experts in fire-fighting, in which they tried to systematize the experience of fire brigades, gave advice on the use of the most effective methods of preventing fires and their extinguishing, recommendations in the field of compliance with fire safety requirements in construction. Constant and fruitful work on the coverage of fire protection issues began only with the education in
1892 Russian Fire Society. The society was engaged in the publication of special literature, organization of fire congresses and exhibitions, covered prevention issues on the pages of magazines and newspapers (primarily the magazines "Fire" and "Fire business").

Under Tsar Nicholas I, the systematic organization of fire brigades in the Russian Empire and the widespread construction of fire stations to accommodate fire brigades began.
During the 19th century, fire-fighting equipment factories were opened in St. Petersburg and Moscow, where fire pumps, folding ladders were produced, and the first fire engine was manufactured. In Russia, one of the best designs of hydrants and standers was created, the first hand-held foam fire extinguisher was developed and tested.
By 1917, a fairly developed system of interaction between the authorities, public organizations and the population had been formed in Russia, aimed at preventing fires and teaching firefighting measures.

After the October Revolution of 1917, the problems of fighting fires were placed on the level of the most important and primary tasks of the state. Already on April 17, 1918, the Russian government signed a decree "On the organization of state measures to combat fire", which for many years became a defining document that outlined the main directions for the development and improvement of the country's fire protection.
In 1920, the Central Fire Department was created as part of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, which was entrusted with the management of fire protection throughout the country. With this reorganization, one-man command was established in the fire protection system. The department supervised the fight against fires, developed fire-prevention measures, took into account and distributed fire equipment, and supervised fire brigades and other fire brigades.
In 1922, despite the dire state of the Soviet economy, the government allocated funds for the purchase of the necessary fire-fighting equipment, in particular, cars abroad. In 1925, the AMO plant in Moscow produced the first AMO-F-15 fire engine. By the beginning of 1927, there were already about 400 fire trucks in service with the country's professional fire brigade.
In December 1924, the Leningrad Fire Technical School was opened with a three-year training period. In 1930, the All-Union Fire-Fighting and Technical Society was formed, whose tasks were to consider the issues of introducing scientific and technical achievements into the practice of fire protection.
To conduct scientific research and organize design developments in the field of fire protection, a fire testing laboratory was created in 1931, and since 1934 - the Central Research Fire Laboratory (TsNIPL).
On July 10, 1934, by decree of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, the NKVD of the USSR was formed. It also included the newly created Main Directorate of Fire Protection (GUPO).
By the decision of the GUPO, individual enterprises for the production of fire-fighting equipment were merged into a specialized trust.

In 1936, the Faculty of Fire Defense Engineers was established in Leningrad on the basis of the Institute of Municipal Construction Engineers. The systematic training of engineering and technical personnel began.
On July 5, 1937, on the basis of the Central Scientific Research Fire Laboratory (TsNIPL), the Central Scientific Research Institute of Fire Defense of the NKVD of the USSR (TsNIIPO) was created, with the organization of which scientific research in the field of fire protection took a systematic, purposeful character.
An important step in the development of fire prevention was the adoption on April 7, 1936 of the "Regulations on State Fire Supervision", which expanded the scope of activities of employees of the State Fire Service, their duties and rights. This served to further study the causes of fires in order to develop scientifically based measures aimed at eliminating them.
On the eve of World War II, the country's fire brigade was an organized force.
On November 7, 1941, firefighters took part in a historic parade on Red Square, from where some went to the front, others returned to extinguishing the fires. Many women joined the ranks of firefighters. In 1942 alone, 6 thousand of them were mobilized. Ordinary people, children, under the guidance of firefighters, were actively trained in methods of fighting fires, learned to defuse incendiary bombs.
The difficult and important task of developing new modern types of fire-technical products and the modernization of existing fire-fighting equipment was entrusted to the scientific and design departments of TsNIIPO.
Much attention was paid to the training of specialists for the fire brigade. In 1957, the Faculty of Fire and Safety Engineers was established at the Higher School of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow.
International cooperation in the field of fire safety also developed. In 1958, the fire brigade became a member of the International Technical Committee for the Prevention and Fighting of Fire (CTIF).
In 1977, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted two documents that determined the directions of work of the fire brigade: the decree "On measures to improve fire safety in settlements and at the facilities of the national economy" and the decree approving the "Regulations on state fire supervision". These decrees included measures aimed at: improving the technical equipment of fire departments; improvement of tactical development and organization of extinguishing large fires; strengthening control over the observance of fire safety measures.
Much attention was paid to the development of scientific research and development aimed at practical activities to improve the combat capability of the fire brigade. At the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Fire Protection (VNIIPO), work on the design and implementation of automatic fire alarm and fire extinguishing systems at various facilities has become widespread, new means and methods of extinguishing fires have been created, active work has begun on the introduction of modern information and communication technologies in the activities of the fire department. protection.
By the beginning of the 80s, the fire brigade of the Soviet Union was practically transformed into an engineering service, which included about 200 thousand personnel, more than 150 thousand paramilitary personnel and about 30 thousand fire trucks for various purposes.
On November 1, 1985, a new Combat Manual of the Fire Department was put into effect.
The Chernobyl disaster, other large fires and accidents, which led to numerous casualties and huge material losses, highlighted the task of coordinating and interacting all special services to act in extreme conditions. In 1989, by order of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, 8 "Regional specialized detachments of the paramilitary fire protection of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for carrying out emergency rescue operations" were created, the main tasks of which were: participation in extinguishing large fires and eliminating the consequences of natural and man-made emergencies. In the republican and regional centers, specialized units with similar tasks have been created.
In the early 90s, as a result of the collapse of the USSR and the formation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, a number of issues related to the implementation of the organization, improvement of the structure of fire departments were transferred to the localities under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the autonomous republics, the Central Internal Affairs Directorate, the Internal Affairs Directorate of the territories and regions.
In 1993, the Council of Ministers of the Russian Federation by Resolution No. 849 transformed the SPASR 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. The State Border Service has been assigned a number of fundamentally new tasks, incl. development of state measures of normative legal regulation in the field of fire safety, development of a unified scientific and technical policy, coordination of fire-fighting activities of ministries and departments.
On December 21, 1994, the President of the Russian Federation signed the Federal Law “On Fire Safety”. From now on, the problem of fire safety has ceased to be a problem only for the fire service. According to the law, this is one of the most important functions of the state. The Law comprehensively addresses issues of fire safety; the status of the State Fire Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia was determined as the main type of fire protection; the powers of government bodies, enterprises, officials, citizens have been determined.
On April 30, 1999, by the Decree of the President, the professional holiday of firefighters "Day of the Fire Service" was established.
By the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of 09.11.2001 "On improving public administration in the field of fire safety", 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 (State Fire Service of the Ministry of Emergencies Russia) and has been included in it since January 1, 2002.
This state of affairs in the field of fire safety was a consequence of the imperfection of the regulatory legal framework in the field of fire safety, the accumulated problems in the technical equipment of fire departments, the organization of its work, the collapse of the housing and communal services, the unemployment of the population in the economy, and the aggravation of social problems. The consequence of this was that more than 70% of people die in fires in their homes due to drunkenness, ignoring elementary fire safety rules.

Currently, the fire protection of Russia is divided into the following types:
... State Fire Service;
... Municipal fire brigade;
... Departmental fire protection;
... Private fire brigade;
... Voluntary fire brigade.

Currently, the total number of SBS subdivisions is about 260 thousand people. (of which 154.5 thousand are private and commanding personnel and 105.5 thousand civilian personnel).
The Federal Law "Technical Regulations on Fire Safety Requirements", adopted in July 2008, became a serious step forward. A fundamental law appeared that regulated thousands of rules and regulations governing the field of fire safety.

In order to implement the plan for the construction and development of the forces and means of the EMERCOM of Russia for 2007-2010, the plan for reforming the civil defense forces, a lot of work is being done to form the organizational structure of the federal fire service, taking into account the expansion of its functions, which will optimize the efficiency of the fire safety system in the existing socio-economic conditions.
Also, the Federal Law of July 22, 2008 No. 137-FZ "On Amendments to Articles 5 and 24 of the Federal Law" On Fire Safety "was adopted, which determined the legal framework for the organization of contractual divisions of the federal fire service.
By Government Decree No. 972 of December 29, 2007, the Federal Target Program "Fire Safety in the Russian Federation for the Period up to 2012" was approved, which is aimed at ensuring that our entire society, all levels of government security.
Fire trucks are the main means of fire protection, ensuring the delivery of forces and equipment to the place of fire, conducting hostilities to extinguish fires, rescue people and material values. At the beginning of 2009, the production of fire trucks is carried out at 17 enterprises in various regions of Russia. More than 80 models of fire trucks have been mastered according to the current type. In 2008, about 1600 units of fire fighting equipment were produced. In total, more than 15,700 units of main and special fire-fighting vehicles are in service with the units of the FPS EMERCOM of Russia, which is about 82% of their standard position.
At the present time, the EMERCOM of Russia, with the participation of FGU VNIIPO and manufacturers of fire equipment, within the framework of a single thematic R&D plan, are actively working on the creation in the future of a new complex of mobile fire equipment: a fire and rescue vehicle for the North, a highly maneuverable operational vehicle for emergency fire and rescue works, a modular mobile complex for the collection and disposal of various hazardous substances, a modular installation for receiving and supplying gas-filled foam, a fire and rescue vehicle with reversible movement for work in tunnels.
As before, significant work is being carried out by the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia in the field of fire prevention. The well-known thesis that “a fire is easier to prevent than to extinguish” is implemented in the serious and varied work of the ministry in the field of propaganda of fire-technical knowledge and training the population in fire safety measures.

In connection with the implementation of tasks for the development and implementation of new forms and methods of influencing the operational situation with fires in the country, the EMERCOM of Russia pays great attention to the development of fire science. By orders of the EMERCOM of Russia in 2003, the Concept for the Development of the Federal State Institution "All-Russian Order of the Badge of Honor" Research Institute of Fire Defense "(FGU VNIIPO) EMERCOM of Russia was adopted and in 2007 the Program for the Development of the Scientific and Technical Base of the FGU VNIIPO EMERCOM of Russia for 2008 - 2010 Since 2002, the number of staff at FGU VNIIPO EMERCOM of Russia has been increased by 87 units. and is currently 1160 people. Since 2002, the volume of financing of FGU VNIIPO EMERCOM of Russia in terms of development of the material and technical base has increased more than 2.5 times.
It should be noted that, despite the significant progress made by the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the field of fire prevention and extinguishing, the results of this work cannot yet fully meet the needs of today. The disappointing statistics of the number of fires and deaths of people, with all its dynamics towards a decrease in these indicators, in comparison with the leading countries of the world, remains a very serious negative factor characterizing the general state of solving social and economic problems in the country.
Of course, structural reforms alone cannot solve this problem. This requires a whole range of measures aimed at improving the entire fire safety system as a whole. And this is connected not only with the development of fire protection, improvement of its technical support, improvement of personnel training, social security of fire protection employees, etc. This problem is much broader, and the basis for its solution lies in the state's awareness of the priority of problems related to ensuring the safety of life and health of its citizens, the safety of their property - precisely those issues that, by virtue of their purpose, are intended to be addressed by the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense , emergencies and disaster relief.

For the information provided, we thank the Center for the preparation of presentation materials of the Federal State Institution VNIIPO EMERCOM of the Russian Federation.