He returned—and after a three-year break caused by the pandemic—the St. Nicholas Indoor Football Tournament organized by the District Headquarters of the State Fire Service in Bolesławiec. The competition was held in Gromadka Municipality. Not by coincidence.
As Ryszard Kawka, head of the Gromadka local government, explains, the municipality wanted to thank the firefighters in this way for their commitment to extinguishing the huge fire that broke out at one of the plants in the economic zone in the summer.
The municipality head announces that next year’s budget will include substantial funding for volunteer firefighters, and that he will introduce group insurance for the volunteers.
– Gromadka Municipality is a firefighter-friendly municipality – emphasizes Senior Brigadier Andrzej Śliwowski, district commander of the State Fire Service in Bolesławiec.
Six teams took part in the tournament, made up of firefighters who participated in extinguishing the memorable fire in Osła.
More information soon.
Let us recall. In August, the District Headquarters of the State Fire Service in Bolesławiec summarized the entire operation as follows:
On 5 August 2022, at approximately 6:00 p.m., a fire broke out at a plant in Osła. The fire engulfed raw materials and products from waste processing, stored over an area of approximately 2 hectares. The rapid development of the fire and the intensity of the burning required ten days of rescue and firefighting operations involving forces from State Fire Service and volunteer fire service units from throughout the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.
At the peak of the operation, up to 40 units were deployed, including as many as six aerial ladders and platforms and six water tankers. The total personnel roster consisted of more than 100 State Fire Service and volunteer firefighters, who were subsequently replaced by further shifts every 12 hours.
Bolesławiec firefighters: – As the area of the fire and the intensity of the burning were gradually reduced, the number of forces and resources was decreased. The firefighters extinguished piles of waste by directing streams of extinguishing water from ladders and platforms, as well as from the ground, working with backhoe loaders that spread out the burning material.
The uniformed officers added:
The water supply was organized using the hydrant network in the industrial zone, fire-protection tanks at neighboring workplaces, and water transported from open reservoirs in Różyniec, Gromadka and Szczytnica. The prolonged operations, conducted partly in smoke-filled areas, required firefighters to work with breathing apparatus, which were refilled at the scene by special units equipped with cylinder-filling compressors. In addition, units from chemical rescue groups, alternating between Wrocław and Legnica, constantly monitored the wind direction, the spread of smoke and concentrations of hazardous substances in the air, and identified any locations and plants from which people needed to be evacuated.
They also added:
For the proper organization of the operation, with central and voivodeship reserve companies taking part alternately, an incident command post was also established, using command and communications vehicles. Depending on the needs that arose, the coordination of operations involved the Lower Silesian Voivodeship Commander of the State Fire Service and his deputies, operational groups from the Headquarters of the State Fire Service and the Voivodeship Headquarters of the State Fire Service in Wrocław, and the District Commander of the State Fire Service in Bolesławiec together with his deputy and an operational group from the District Headquarters. The police, in cooperation with a fire-investigation expert, are determining the circumstances and cause of the fire.
They also emphasized:
Due to the large number of rescuers and the health hazards involved, the operation was also medically secured by a medical transport team from St. Luke’s Hospital in Bolesławiec, and later by a medical rescue unit from the OSP JPR in Złotoryja. The firefighters’ operations were supported by the Police, which halted traffic on roads adjacent to the plant, as well as by the Gromadka Municipality and Bolesławiec County authorities, which helped provide food for the firefighters and meet other logistical support needs. Several workplaces from the LSSE—Osła area—also assisted the firefighters by making their yards and water tanks available, helping with meals and supplying a stock of protective masks.
More about the fire:
- The biggest fire in years extinguished; grueling operations lasted 10 days. “The smell was out of this world.”
- There have already been SEVERAL WIOŚ inspections at the plant in Osła; another is coming.
- Trouble for the company in Osła. First a huge debt, now a massive fire.
- Reader: “This is the kind of air people are breathing in Osła today”.
- Massive fire in Osła. Operations are still underway. VIDEO.
- Does the air after the fire in Osła pose a threat to people’s health and lives?
- Major fire in the Osła zone. Firefighters are still working at the scene.