The past year in Bolesławiec County was marked by numerous incidents requiring the intervention of fire protection units, coordinated by the Command Post of the County Commander of the State Fire Service in Bolesławiec.

Compared with 2017, there was an increase of 207 incidents. The largest increase was recorded in the fire category—by 182 incidents. This was mainly caused by weather conditions (high temperatures and little precipitation), which contributed, among other things, to an increase in the number of forest, crop and wasteland fires.

Firefighters from the Bolesławiec County Headquarters of the State Fire Service::

Despite the occurrence of severe weather phenomena (strong winds and torrential rain), when more than 200 incidents were recorded during a single shift (May 10, 2018) and more than 30 on another (August 4, 2018), the number of interventions related to removing the effects of local hazards remained at a similar level (979 in 2018, compared with 945 in 2017).

The decrease in the number of responses to false alarms should be viewed positively (77 in 2018, compared with 86 in 2017). Only three false alarms were classified as “malicious.” The significant reduction in such reports may be due to the possibility of identifying the person making the report, as well as educational activities conducted among children and young people.

Fire-related losses were estimated at more than PLN 3,100,000, giving an average of over PLN 14,000 per fire. Losses resulting from traffic incidents, strong winds, flooding and other events classified as “local hazards” in Bolesławiec County were estimated at PLN 5,100,000 (more than PLN 22,000 per incident).

And they add:

The value of property saved was estimated at nearly PLN 100,000,000 during fires and more than PLN 50,000,000 in cases involving local hazards.

In 2018, 15 fatalities (including two in fires) and 358 injured people (including 38 in fires) were recorded in incidents to which Bolesławiec firefighters responded.

What about the firefighters?

Unfortunately, rescuers are also exposed to injuries during rescue operations—in 2018, four firefighters from JRG Bolesławiec and one volunteer firefighter from the Volunteer Fire Service were involved in accidents.

State Fire Service firefighters provided qualified first aid 242 times.

The units of the national rescue and firefighting system were dispatched most frequently to rescue operations:

  • JRG Bolesławiec – 1,155
  • OSP Nowogrodziec – 237
  • OSP Różyniec – 145
  • OSP Trzebień – 133
  • OSP Warta – 126
  • OSP Czerna – 121
  • OSP Osiecznica – 119
  • OSP Gromadka – 88
  • OSP Parowa – 46.

In 2018, 16 Volunteer Fire Service units outside the national rescue and firefighting system responded to incidents 572 times.

Bolesławiec uniformed services:

Moreover, outside the military unit's grounds, the Military Fire Service supported us at 45 incidents.

Thanks to the high level of operational readiness of State Fire Service and Volunteer Fire Service units, despite the very extensive area of operations, in more than 85% of all incidents in the county, the first fire crew began operations in less than 15 minutes.