4 august 2010

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visits Emergencies Ministry camp in the Voronezh Region

Participants:

The prime minister arrived at the camp set up by the Ministry of Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Relief and went to the nearby Kozhevenny Kordon forest, where the fire fighting effort is still going on. Deputy head of the Federal Fire Fighting Service detachment Roman Krivotulov told the prime minister about their work. On July 29, the Kozhevenny Kordon started to burn. On August 4, firefighters hope to extinguish the fire there completely. In addition to aviation, fifty-one firefighters, three fire engines and ten tankers are being used to extinguish the fire.

Krivotulov said the main problem is that there are three holiday camps in the vicinity with only one approach road, and the strong wind forced them to make the only right decision - to evacuate the people. "We evacuated 1,084 people, and no one was injured," Krivotulov said. He admitted that he had never seen anything like that during all the years of his service. "Even the firefighters were frightened," the prime minister said.

Vladimir Putin approached the firefighters who were extinguishing fire. They told the prime minister that they were spraying water on the soil and peat bogs to avoid new conflagrations. They assured Mr Putin that their working conditions had been well organized, including catering and time off. Mr Putin shook hands with the firefighters, thanked them for their efforts and wished them success.

The prime minister also visited the alarm response group headquarters located in the ministry's camp. He thanked rescuers and firefighters for their work and said, "I have seen the conditions in which your comrades are working. I told them and I want to tell you: Thank you, guys!" The prime minister added that "the situation is tense" and they would have to "continue working hard." "Special thanks for the people you've saved. The evacuation was conducted on time, promptly, and no one was injured," Vladimir Putin emphasised.