Establishing volunteer firefighting team

Experience of Ferrexpo Belanovo Mining

 According to the State Emergency Service, Ukraine lacks more than a thousand of the fire and rescue units to ensure the operation of the volunteer and the local fire units. Today, I don’t see a better option than to borrow the experience of countries, which establish the volunteer fire units to respond quickly to the fires. For example, in the USA, 70% of all fire units are the volunteer fire units. After all, these are the owners of the companies or the residents of the communities, who are the most interested in extinguishing the fire.

Ferrexpo constantly supports the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the regions of Ukraine, which were affected by occupation and destruction. Over the period of the full-scale invasion, Ferrexpo has provided the support to the twelve regions of Ukraine amounting to over 969 million UAH. Ferrexpo continues to implement the projects on improving the working conditions and to ensure the safety of the employees and the equipment. In particular, Ferrexpo Belanovo Mining, one of the entities of Ferrexpo Group, which not only implements the safety measures for employees and assets, but also supports the nearby communities.

In 2021, the active phase of the mining operations started at FBM. The active phase of the development of the pit required the additional risks assessment. We determined that there were the high risk of the fires. The results of the fire trainings, which were conducted jointly with the response teams of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine and the emergency services of Ferrexpo, confirmed that the professional fire units respond time is more than 20 minutes, and in case of the bad weather conditions, this time can increase significantly.

The fire unit respond time is a key factor to ensure the successful containment and extinguishing of fires.

Since 24 February 2022, the probability of this risk has increased significantly, due to the risk of fires and destructions caused by the enemy attacks.

We developed and implemented the Action Plan to timely respond to these challenges and to minimize the consequences:

• the bomb shelter for employees was installed at the safe distance from hazardous objects;
• the fire alarm system and the automatic fire extinguishing system was installed at FBM administrative building;
• the photoluminescent evacuation route signs were installed at FBM administrative building and production areas, allowing evacuation routes to be visible when is no light or in the case indoor smoke.
• a volunteer firefighting team has been established from the FBM employees;
• the first aid training for all FBM employees is conducted annually.

I'd like to tell in more detail about the establishment of FBM volunteer firefighting team. There are only few options to prevent the possible fires. It is impossible to install an automatic fire extinguishing system on each piece of equipment and building. At the same time it is not feasible to establish and to maintain the professional fire service for the enterprise under construction. FBM has contracts for continuous emergency and rescue services with the State Paramilitary Emergency Rescue Unit and Rescue Squad, but these units are located quite far from the enterprise, and it takes much time to arrive to the scene of fire.

Therefore, after analyzing the current legislation and the experience of the developed countries, I proposed to Yurii Khymych, General Manager of Ferrexpo Belanovo Mining, to establish the volunteer firefighting team from FBM employees. He supported this idea and involved all the necessary services and resources in the project. The concept of the volunteer firefighting team involves that the employees, who are the members of this team, perform their main duties according to the work schedule, but in the event of fire alert, they must promptly arrive to fire truck, put on protective gear and proceed to extinguish the fire. FBM employees are aware of the specifics of the territory of the enterprise, the current situation, and the risks that may exist in the emergency area.

The enthusiasm with which the employees responded to the proposition to join the volunteer firefighting team was evident in their eyes. The number of the female and male employees, who wanted to join the volunteer firefighting team, exceeded the required number of the firefighters. For some, it is an opportunity to fulfill their childhood dream, for others – it was a chance to be of service.

Preparation stage

The main state document regulating the establishment of the volunteer firefighting units is – The Procedure for the establishment and the operation of the firefighting units, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 314 dd. 7th of April 2023. Guided by this, we started the establishment of FBM volunteer firefighting team with forming the team and with the preparation of the necessary documents.

The establishment of FBM volunteer firefighting team has been approved by the Protocol decision of FBM Labour Collective Council. The corresponding Regulation regarding the establishment of FBM volunteer firefighting team has been developed and approved, which was agreed upon the Main Department of the State Emergency Service of the region. All candidates, who passed the medical examination and were deemed fit for this type of work, submitted an application to join FBM volunteer firefighting team. Members of FBM volunteer firefighting team are insured in accordance with the legislation, and have undergone training at the training center of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.

Equipment

The fire truck deserves special attention. Initially, the project considered a fire truck with fire extinguishing substance capacity of up to two tons. Then, after consulting with the specialists regarding the volume of the fire extinguishing substance, we realized that this volume  would not be sufficient for extinguishing the fire of the mining equipment, electrical equipment and at the other facilities. Therefore, we considered many options and decided to purchase MAN TGM 13.290 4 × 4 fire truck. This is a modern, technologically advanced fire truck with all-wheel drive, which both men and women enjoy driving (Natalia Valiulina, the former Deputy Chief Accountant, was trained as a fire truck driver).

The fire truck was re-equipped by the specialists of TITAL LLC – professionals in their field, who installed the superstructure on the chassis with a water capacity of 5, 000 liters, 400 liters of foaming concentrate, and 120 liters of carbon dioxide, enabling the extinguishing of various types of fires under the different conditions. The firefighting monitor is located behind the cabin of the fire truck, which is very convenient and speeds up the delivery of the first hose in case of fire. The arrangement of the superstructure compartments of the fire truck is standard: the left and the right compartments – for the firefighting equipment, the rear (pump compartment) – for the pump and pressure-suction communication. The fire truck is equipped with the electric water heating system for the tank, which helped to ensure the full readiness to respond to the emergency situations during the winter period, even when the fire truck is located in an open area. In 2024 a hangar was built for the storage and maintenance of the fire truck, Therefore, it will be easier for FBM volunteer firefighting team to keep it in a constant readiness to perform assigned tasks in winter and in summer.

FBM volunteer firefighting team officially started its activities on 17th of April 2023. It consists of 12 full-time employees: power engineers, electrical fitters and mining foremen. Another 8 male and female employees, who expressed their desire to join and to strengthen FBM volunteer firefighting team, are currently undergoing training at the training center of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.

One of the tasks for 2023 was to ensure the FBM volunteer firefighting team response time of no more 10 minutes. Thanks to the constant trainings and the coordinated work of the team, the goal has been achieved.

Assistance to Communities

Just four months after the establishment, FBM volunteer firefighting team was included to the Civil Protection Forces and Resources Involvement Plan. According to this Plan, the task of FBM volunteer firefighting team is responding to the fires at the area of the nearby territorial communities, which includes: Bondari village, Ostaptsi village, Vasylenky village, Nova Galeschyna urban-type village, which are located in Kremenchuk district. It is very important for the residents of the community and all surrounding areas, for the educational institutions, to know, that in case of an emergency, FBM volunteer firefighting team can be counted on.

So, having gone the way from the idea of establishing of the volunteer firefighting team to its successful implementation – the operation of the volunteer firefighting team, I’d like to underline the key moment: if you are planning to establish a local fire protection service or a volunteer firefighting team for your company, you should do it as soon as possible. When the emergency occurs, our people are always ready to help, and there will always be  compassionate volunteers, who will join the new firefighting teams.

The prerequisites for the successful operation of the volunteer firefighting units are the support of the Management, a coordinated team, technical readiness of the available equipment and the constant trainings are also critical. We hope that there will be no massive fires and no threats to human life. However, we are always ready for serious challenges since the timeliness of our actions depends not only on the preservation of property, but also on saving the human lives.

Ihor Boholii, Head of HSE Service of Ferrexpo Belanovo Mining​