History of fire protection in Russia. Day of Fire Protection of Russia

It is known that in Russia, where the forest was the main building material since ancient times, one of the most terrible disasters was fires, which often destroyed entire cities. And although they were considered the punishment of God, this did not prevent them from resolutely fighting with them. That is why the history of the Russian fire brigade is very rich and goes back many centuries.

Attempts to combat fire in earlier centuries

Since at all times fires were a serious obstacle to the development of the state, the supreme authority tried to take measures as far as possible. There are many examples of this, even in the past centuries. One of the historical documents that have come down to us tells how after the terrible Moscow fire that broke out in 1472, the great Ivan III (the grandfather of Ivan the Terrible) personally participated in his extinguishment, issued a number of decrees from which, in fact, the development began Fire protection in Russia.

Both the Rurikovichs and the Romanovs who came to replace them were also very determined to fight the fire. Known a number of their decrees prescribing to build in cities (and in Moscow especially) only stone structures, erect them at a safe distance from each other and take all measures against fire. For those who, violating the regulations, became the culprit of the fiery disaster, strict penalties were envisaged-in order for others to be a science.

Fires of old Russia

But no matter how hard the whips of the violators were, no matter how they demanded food in the courtyards during the hot summer months, they did not help to build fire in wooden buildings. There is hardly any old Russian city that spares fire, repeatedly turning its house into ashes, because in those years there was no regular fire service.

In Veliky Novgorod, the fire of 1212 destroyed 4,300 households in a matter of hours, destroying a lot of inhabitants. In 1354 Moscow burned. Only two hours took a devouring flame to turn into the smoking ruins not only the Kremlin, but also the surrounding villages. The same is sadly remembered in 1547, when another fiery disaster took several thousand lives in the capital. The creation of fire protection in Russia was an urgent requirement of life and was the answer to the challenge thrown by the elements.

The birth of a regular fire service

A big step in this direction was made during the reign of the Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (the father of Peter I). In 1649 he saw the light developed by him "Cathedral Code" - a set of laws of the Russian state, which had been in effect for almost two hundred years. Eight of his articles were devoted to issues related to fire safety, and not only in cities and villages, but, importantly, in the forests.

In the same year, another important document appeared: The Decree on the City Deanery. It is with him that the history of fire protection of Russia begins, since it prescribes the creation of a regular service on a professional basis, to employees of which a fixed salary is established.

It also provided for the introduction of round-the-clock duty, which included the detour of cities and the punishment of those who violated the established rules for dealing with fire. There was an impetus to the development of technical means of firefighting - it was recommended to use water pipes, which were the forerunners of modern hoses, to fight fire. So there was a regular fire service in Russia.

Development of the fire department before the revolution

The case, begun by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, was continued by his son - Peter I. During his reign, the history of the fire protection of Russia reached a new qualitative level. Taking as a model the staging of the fight against fire in European states, he significantly modernized the technical equipment of Russian services by purchasing fire pumps for them, equipped with leather sleeves and copper hoses for them. In the reign of Peter was created under the Petersburg Admiralty and the first fire department. In Moscow, the regular fire brigade appeared much later - only in 1804, by order of the sovereign Alexander I.

During the reign of the next Romanov, the Tsar Nicholas I, regular fire services ceased to be the property of St. Petersburg and Moscow alone. Since that time, their creation throughout Russia begins, and the fire department with the tower above it becomes an indispensable attribute of each city. Very often this building was the highest in the city, and from it you could see even the nearby villages. In case of detection of the fire, a signal flag was raised at the top of the watchtower, and the inhabitants were informed of the scale of the disaster by special balls, the number of which was directly proportional to the area of ignition.

The history of fire protection in Russia of the XIX century was also marked by the creation of a number of enterprises for the production of equipment necessary for firefighting. In Moscow and St. Petersburg, fire pumps and sleeves to them, folding ladders and hooks were produced, and with the advent of the first cars - a rig that allowed them to be used to combat fire.

Organization of the fight against fires after the revolution

Great attention was paid to the organization of fire protection and came to power in 1917 by the Bolshevik government. Already in April of the next year it issues a corresponding decree and establishes the post of Commissioner for Insurance and Fire Fighting. The first to this position is appointed MT Elizarov.

To him, the country is obliged to implement in the shortest possible time the measures provided for by the decree and the creation of an extensive network of fire stations in the country. The next year the government decree to the NKVD structure introduces the Central Fire Department, which since then has been centralizing the management of the fire services throughout the country.

Moscow conference and Leningrad technical school

In order to further develop fire protection in 1923, the All-Russian Fire Conference was held in Moscow, in addition to delegations arriving from various cities of the country, as well as guests from Belarus, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Georgia participated in the work. It is important to note that at the conference, special attention was paid to fire prevention and it was deemed advisable that each fire department should have an appropriate specialist.

The next important step in the fight against fire was the Fire Technical College, which opened in 1924 in Leningrad. His graduates became the personnel base on which in the following years a nationwide fire safety supervision system was formed, which later included the Voluntary Fire Service of Russia. This new structure, at that time, developed with the active assistance of the Komsomol and trade union organizations.

The contribution of science and industry to the cause of firefighting

In the mid-twenties, a significant impetus was given to the production of domestic fire equipment. Along with numerous models of pumps, mechanical ladders and smoke exhausters, the first Soviet fire engines also appear . By the end of 1927, over the country, their park was more than four hundred. In the thirties, serious scientific developments began in the two specialized testing laboratories, in which graduates from the same faculty of fire engineering engineers worked.

Firefighters during the war

The history of fire protection in Russia during the Great Patriotic War has become one of the pages of the heroic epic of those years. Fighters of fire units rescued from fire numerous residential and industrial objects, which became the target of enemy bombing and shelling. Only in one Leningrad for the years of the blockade of their deaths more than two thousand people. It is no accident that during the Victory Parade the fire units passed along Red Square together with all combat units.

One of the problems of modern life

Experts state that in the modern world there is an increase in the number of fires, and the socio-economic consequences from them are becoming increasingly difficult. Annually on the globe about five million fires occur, in which more than one hundred thousand people die, and material losses from them are measured by tens of millions of dollars. A serious disaster is also natural fires - peat and forest, as well as arising from emergency oil and gas development.

All this forces the specialists to expand their search for new means of combating fire and improve existing ones. It should be noted that in this direction, Russia has a long tradition. It was in our country that for the first time in the world the foam fire extinguishing technology was applied, the best hydrant design in the world was developed, and the first portable fire extinguisher appeared.

Day of Russian Firemen

The modern fire service is a complex and multifunctional system charged with extinguishing fires of the most varied complexity. As a rule, tactical tasks are performed by the composition of the guard on duty, but in some cases special units are involved, which includes the special fire protection of Russia. In this case, we are talking about the localization of fires that threaten particularly severe consequences (oil and gas towers, nuclear facilities, weapons stores, etc.).

Russians respect and appreciate those who protect their lives and property from the fire element. In 1999, a government decree was signed, on the basis of which a holiday appeared - the Day of Fire Protection of Russia, celebrated annually on April 30. This day was not chosen by chance - it was April 30, 1649, the above mentioned "Order of the City Deanery", which became the birthday of the Russian fire service.