Activities of fire units
Besides fire fighting, fire units take part in rescue and clean-up operations during traffic accidents, in accidents with HazMat leakage, in technical interventions and natural disasters, but they also fulfil special tasks, connected e.g. with prevention of spread of dangerous infections and diseases, with citizen protection against consequences of possible terrorist attacks, or dealing with calamity situations, caused by extremely unfavourable weather conditions.
Types of fire units
• Regional FRS unit. Consists of professional firefighters of the Czech Fire Rescue Service, which are performing service in fire stations of
particular region.
particular region.
• Company FRS unit. Consists of company employees, which are performing that activity as their profession.
• Municipal unit of voluntary firefighters. Members of that unit do not perform their firefighting duties as their profession.
• Company unit of voluntary firefighters. Consists of company employees, which do not perform their firefighting duties as their profession.
Nearly 83,400 firefighters work in fire units, approximately 9,000 of them are professionals, and nearly 74,400 are voluntary firefighters.
Number of particular event types with fire unit’s intervention
|
|
2004
|
2005
|
2006
|
2007
|
2008
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Fires
|
20,550
|
19,484
|
19,665
|
21,835
|
29,406
|
|
Traffic accidents
|
21,188
|
20,681
|
18,976
|
21,270
|
20,063
|
|
Natural disasters
|
1,605
|
2,729
|
5,414
|
10,044
|
5,599
|
|
HazMat leakage
|
5,550
|
5,630
|
5,809
|
6,377
|
6,242
|
|
Technological accidents
|
46,814
|
40,413
|
49,785
|
48,010
|
42,104
|
|
Other interventions
|
100
|
48
|
735
|
166
|
17
|
|
Radiation accidents
|
3
|
2
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
|
False alarms
|
7,626
|
7,846
|
8,409
|
8,148
|
8,194
|
|
Total
|
103,436
|
96,833
|
108,797
|
115,850
|
102,625
|
During the above-mentioned interventions, fire units rescued 39,796 persons and evacuated 58,357 persons during the years 2004 – 2008, from that 2,443 rescued from fires and 17,671 others evacuated. Protected property during fire operations in this period is valued to EUR 1,67 billion.
Voluntary fire units
On May 7th, 1874, the first voluntary firefighters organisation was established in the town of Velvary. Activities of voluntary firefighters developed even after professional fire protection was established. Voluntary firefighters organisations have been, and will be, an integral part of our fire protection system. In 2008 a total of 74,358 voluntary firefighters were registered.
Structure of voluntary fire units:
• Municipal voluntary fire units
• Company voluntary fire units
Municipal and company voluntary fire units together with the FRS CR are basic bodies of the Integrated Rescue System. To the end of 2008 as many as 7,343 municipal voluntary fire units and 256 company voluntary fire units have been registered in the Czech Republic.
Municipal and company voluntary fire units play a significant role in interventions of fire units. They perform fire fighting and rescue work during natural disasters and other emergencies, and fulfil other duties in fire protection area. In 2008, municipal voluntary fire units participated in 32,507 incidents, and company voluntary fire units in 689 incidents.
Traditionally, voluntary firefighters are involved in wide activities of cultural and sport area, in training of youths, in public life and keeping of their traditions.
Municipal voluntary firefighters are most numerous and most extended NGOs in the Czech Republic. Municipal voluntary fire units are associated in several corporations. The association of Voluntary Firefighters of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia is the biggest one, followed by the Czech Firefighters Union and the Moravian Firefighters Union.