BARLAD FIRE SERVICE PROJECT

(ROMANIA)

Barlad is a large town in north eastern Romania about 200 miles north east of the capital Bucharest and about 30 miles west of the Moldavian border. First established in the 12th century, it is situated in the Central Moldavian Plateau between the Tutova Hills and the Falcui Hills. It lies on the River Barlad and has a built up area in excess of 1000 hectares. Average temperatures range from +38C to -28C.

It is on the important and busy National Road 24 between the large city of Iasi (100 miles to the north) and the junction with National Road 2 to Burcharest at Marasesti. Formerly a part of Tutova county, it now lies within Vaslui county with the administrative base at Vaslui, a large town , midway between Barlad and Iasi. However there are hopes that, sometime in the not too distant future, Tutova county will be re-established with Barlad as its administrative centre.

Barlad is on the main railway line which follows much of the same path as National Road 24 between Vaslui and Marasesti. The nearest international airport is at Burcharest. The well known costal holiday resort city of Constanta lies about 200 miles south east of Barlad.

Barlad, and the surrounding area, has a population in excess of 100,000. According to the last census in 1997, a large proportion of the population was young. The local administrative authority is the town council which is headed by The Mayor. Other municipal bodies also have various powers in a similar way to other countries where there are town and county authorities.

There is a mixture of historical old buildings and relatively modern high rise apartments; there are 42 schools and two hospitals whilst industry is based around the manufacture of ball bearings - Barlad has an international reputation for this product.

At present fire protection for Barlad and its inhabitants is in the care of the army who operate antiquated appliances and have to cope with ancient fire fighting equipment. But all that MUST change if Romania is to be accepted into the European Economic Community to which the country has applied for admission.

It is one of the stipulations of membership of the EEC that various organisations and services have to be operated by civilian rather than military personnel and the fire service falls directly into that category and so change is essential.

Proposals for the Barlad Fire and Rescue Service

The Barlad Town Council is acutely aware of the requirement for change to satisfy the demands of the EEC in that responsibility for firefighting must pass from the army to the council. No actual set date has been arranged for this transition but the sooner it can be achieved, the better the residents of Barlad will be served.

As with everything in Romania, there are very limited financial resources but a start has already been made with the provision of a fire station although much building work is still needed to bring it up to an acceptable level before it can be used for operational purposes.

The basis of the new Barlad Fire Station - fire appliance bays will be added onto the front of the building when funds are available

Appliances and equipment are another matter; it should be stressed that, although there is certainly some resentment among senior army officers about the loss of their firefighting responsibility, there is also a fair bit of goodwill which will enable a relatively smooth changeover period. However the transfer of most of the army's fire appliances and equipment would be a very backwards step, if it were indeed sanctioned, for one very simple reason - it is all far too old and, in most cases, will be completely unsuitable.

A typical Romanian Army fire appliance constructed on a ROMAN chassis. Although solidly made, the vehicle carries only a very limited amount of equipment and does not compare favourably with the standard of fire appliance found in the UK

The Romanian Government has provided the army brigades with very little new firefighting appliances and equipment during the last 30 years and so, if you visited an operational army brigade today, you would find the soldiers having to use items which should have been confined to the scrapheap years ago. With no funds available to buy new, the only way forward for the newly formed civilian brigades is to operate good refurbished appliances and equipment.

The Barlad Town Council has recognised the efficient way in which the British Fire Service operates and is anxious to model its own brigade on British practice. The recently appointed Chief Fire Officer Costel Florea has a mandate from the Council to set up an efficient operational fire service but his biggest problem is finding the necessary funds required for this vital project.

In searching the Internet for ideas, Costel came across the Fire-Aid International website and noticed that appliances had already been supplied to a civilian brigade in Romania and so he approached us for help. Previously he had made contact with the Greater Manchester Fire Service who have supplied breathing apparatus, uniforms and other equipment. Fire-Aid International intends to provide Barlad with a fire brigade second to none in Romania but to achieve this aim, much help will be needed.

Anticipated Costs in Providing Fire Appliances

The first point which must be made is that Fire-Aid International believes that it is essential to provide two almost identical fire appliances to Barlad. There are many reasons for this decision not least that, with a population in excess of 100,000, the town needs two fully equipped fire appliances as an absolute minimum.

Another reason is that, if one of the vehicles breaks down, then there is no break of service and the other vehicle will still be on the run; however if that also suffers a mechanical problem, then the first can be robbed of the relevant parts and fitted to the second vehicle to keep it operational. Then, as soon as possible, replacement parts will be located and dispatched to Romania so that both appliances are operational again very quickly.

The plan is to equip one vehicle primarily as a dedicated "pump rescue tender" but the equipment on both vehicles will be inter-changeable. Three sets of hydraulic rescue equipment have been obtained from the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service with one of the sets being used as a source of spares. This equipment is now operational in Barlad and is conveyed to an incident in a converted van; personnel have taken part in various training exercises and are highly competent in its use.

The van which has been converted into a temporary rescue tender by the Barlad Fire Service

The cost of sending each fire appliance in a fully refurbished condition will be between £ 5,000 and £ 6,000. This will include the initial cost of the vehicle plus the cost of refurbishing the bodywork, pump and engine. It will also enable a full compliment of secondhand equipment to be supplied to include ladders, hose and all kinds of firefighting gear. As already mentioned BA and RTA rescue gear have been supplied seperately.

Also covered will be the transportation costs to Barlad plus the accomodation and return transportation for the crews who deliver the vehicles. It is anticipated that it will take just over a week to deliver the appliances and to carry out a short familiarisation course for the Romanian firefighters. It is very likely that the return trip will be by air from Bucharest Airport.

What the Barlad Fire Service has Already Achieved

The forward thinking authorities in Barlad have appointed an excellent Chief Fire Officer in Costel Florea, a 39-year-old married man who lives in the town with his wife and young family. Costel is totally committed to the cause and wants to form a fully operational 'Private' as opposed to 'Military' fire brigade. He has the full support of the Mayor and all the Council and he has recruited a dozen firefighters.

Costel first joined the fire service in 1979 when he was a 17-year-old army conscript. He served with the military brigade rising to the rank of lieutenant before leaving to take command of the works fire brigade at the Barlad ball bearings factory. He took up his new post as the Barlad officer in charge in 1998. To quote Costel: "I knew from the beginning it would be hard work because in Romania there are still many old beliefs in people's mentality. But we deserve to succeed because of our love and passion for this noble profession."

There is no doubt that Costel has proved to be a great ambassador for Barlad on his trips to the UK. His enthusiasm and charisma have impressed all those who have met him and he is a great asset to the brigade and the town. He has made many friends in the UK which, hopefully, will produce assistance from several quarters with donations of equipment.

Already Costel's efforts have paid dividends with secondhand breathing apparatus and firefighting uniforms being obtained at a very reasonable cost. But the available finances are desperately short because, as Costel explains: "Romania is passing through economical difficulties and outside financial support is essential."

One of the prime objectives when he visited the UK in the spring of 2000 was to obtain some hydraulic rescue equipment. Nothing of this kind of gear had existed previously in this part of Romania and Costel had his own, very personal, quest to take some back with him to Barlad. He succeeded thanks to the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service but the tragic tale behind his mission must be told.

One day in 1999 Costel should have joined his brother-in-law, who was his best friend, on a trip but he had to pull out at the last minute. His brother-in-law and some friends went off in their car but very soon were involved in a terrible crash when their vehicle hit a tree on the outskirts of Barlad. The brother-in-law was trapped in the wreckage and despite the efforts of local people (not the military fire brigade - they were not called because they had no rescue equipment), he died in the wreckage some nine hours later. All that the local residents had to use were chisels, saws and other hand tools and the task was too much for them.

Now the civilan firefighters have cutters, spreaders and other road accident rescue gear and since it arrived in the early summer, they have been carrying out exercises, cutting up scrap vehicles. They obtained a van which has been converted into a makeshift rescue tender and by the end of August, the Chief Officer was satisfied that his crew members were competent enough to go operational. He contacted the local police chief and urged him to call out the civilian fire crew if there was a serious crash with people trapped - they did not have to wait long as within a couple of days they were called out in the middle of the night to a horrendous scene of carnage.

The first time that the rescue equipment was used 'in anger' was at a terrible head on crash between a large lorry and a Turkish coach. The crash resulted in eight fatalities and numerous injuries but the toll would have been very much higher but for the expertise of the Barlad fire and rescue crew. What is also gratifying was the support given to the crew by the army firefighters and the police and it is now automatic for the Barlad crew to be mobilised to a serious road traffic accident, something which had never happened previously.

Fire Appliances Allocated to the Barlad Project

Now that the Barlad firefighters are an operational unit and attend road traffic accidents, it is important that they continue to make progress and attend fires. Therefore they must be supplied with a fire fighting appliance.

As discussed earlier, Fire-Aid International intends to supply Barlad with a pair of almost identical fire tenders and these have already been identified and allocated. They are Dennis RS135 water tenders which served with the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service. They are fitted with Perkins 540 turbo charged diesel engines and Allison MT643 automatic gearboxes.

D748 KVA was built by HCB-Angus and was supplied in October 1986. It was initially stationed at Huntingdon and served for a short time as a reserve before being transferred to March in 1994 where it completed its career in 1999. E740 KEG has bodywork by Fulton & Wylie and was new in September 1987. It was also initially stationed at Huntingdon before being transferred to the reserve fleet. In 1995 it went to Sutton and then to the brigade Training Centre at Huntingdon before coming out of service in 1999.

It is hoped that people and organisations from Cambridgeshire will give their support to various fund raising initiatives which Fire-Aid International and its agents will be organising to raise the required finances to send these fire appliances to Barlad.

Fire Aid International's Visit to Barlad

Using funds made available by the British Embassy in Bucharest, three of the main organisers of Fire-Aid International's Barlad Fire Service Project paid a visit to the town in late July 2000 with two specific aims - firstly to carry out training on the equipment already provided and secondly to make an appraisal on the viability of the whole project.

Project Manager Graham Smith, an operational firefighter with 24 years experience in the Greater Manchester Fire Service, spent eight days in Barlad during which time he supervised various training sessions with the civilian fire crew. Included were the use of breathing apparatus, which had been obtained from the GMC Fire Service, and the operation of the hydraulic rescue equipment which had come from the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service. As mentioned earlier the rescue equipment is now operational at Barlad.

Graham Smith, in the driver's seat of an old army lorry, is cut free by Barlad firefighters during a training exercise, watched by Chris Rowley

Graham Smith, in the company of the Barlad Fire Station Commander Costel Florea, visited the British Embassy in Burcharest where they met Second Secretary Mrs Tanya Collingridge, Head of the KHF Section. The meeting was used to explain the project and to take advice on any future funding which might be available from British or other sources. Various ideas are being explored and it was felt that the meeting was of considerable benefit to all concerned.

Fire-Aid International Founder/Co-ordinator Simon Rowley and Fleet Manager Chris Rowley joined Mr Smith for four days and throughout the visit the party was accompanied by Mr Florea who had organised a comprehensive and varied programme. The trio were given a tour of the town to enable a risk assesment to be carried out and although somewhat brief, there was enough time to examine the size and condition of the buildings and to make a calculated evaluation on the amount of firefighting equipment which would be needed as an absolute minimum.

A meeting with the Barlad Mayor and Deputy Mayor proved very useful as it gave a total insight into the way in which the town's authority hopes to see its fire service operate. They view the military fire brigade as a throwback from Romania's Communist past and they are very anxious that their newly formed civilian brigade is run on democratic principals. Although the council is desperate that the brigade is a great success, they are unable to supply one essential item - finance - which has to be found from outside Romania.

A visit to the Military Fire Brigade was an eye opener as the Colonel, with four fire stations under his command, and the other officers gave a tour of the station and the appliances. Everything seemed very old and basic and afforded very little protection to the firefighters - all young army conscripts.

The days were filled with visits and training whilst interviews were given to the local newspaper, radio and television stations. There was also a very fair degree of hospitality and indeed the overriding observation of the whole trip was the considerable friendliness shown by the vast majority of the Romanian people. This was despite the fact that, on the whole, most people have a very inferior life style compared to the way in which we live in Britain.

Having said that, it was also very obvious that the people seemed extremely contented with their lives which have improved considerably since the Communists fell from power in the early 1990s. However there are still numerous services which are lagging far behind Western standards including the health and public services including the fire service.

The visit to Barlad was very constructive and gave the Fire-Aid International personnel an insight into the lives of the Romanian people and the problems which they face on a day to day basis. The subject of ambulances was discussed briefly with the Barlad Town Council and there is a possibility of a combined service in the future. There is also an urgent need for emergency equipment to be provided for earthquakes as the town lies close to a fault line.

The impetus of the Barlad Town Council and its civilian fire, rescue and salvage service must be encouraged and Fire-Aid International believes that everything possible must be done to support them.

The Current Position with the Barlad Project

Hopefully we have held your attention and you have arrived at this page which looks at the current position and could be entitled "Where do we go from here ?"

As you have already perceived, the Barlad Fire Service MUST be formed and to achieve this they MUST receive outside help. Fire-Aid International has given its commitment to ensure that this goal is obtained but we MUST have help to make it happen.

Barlad's civilian firefighters; the fire kit came from the Greater Manchester Fire Service but boots and helmets are still needed. On the right are Graham Smith and Chris Rowley

It has been shown that the brigade is already operational on a limited basis attending road accidents in a makeshift vehicle. Training has been carried out but Chief Fire Officer Costel Florea knows that he and his fellow firefighters will need plenty of "hands-on" experience with their 'new' equipment before they can take on the full responsibility of looking after the fire protection in a town the size of Barlad.

There have been a number of offers of help from members of the UK fire service who would go to Romania and give training to the fire crews; however Fire-Aid International is determined that personnel who have given their time in helping to promote this project, are given plenty of opportunity to go to Barlad and assist with training and other aspects of setting up the civilian fire service.

Fire-Aid International will ensure that permanent links, and not just with the fire service, are established with Barlad and its citizens so that other kinds of aid may follow in the future. It is also recognised that, as this is the first project of its kind in Romania, other towns and cities will be looking with considerable interest as to how it succeeds - and it will no doubt succeed with YOUR HELP.

In conclusion may Fire-Aid International thank everyone who has shown an interest in the Barlad Fire Service Project by reading this information and we look forward to receiving your help in making this vital and very worthwhile scheme a resounding success.

We will be updating this page in the near future with details about how this project is progressing - two Dennis fire tenders, one donated by Fire-Aid International and the other by Snaith Fire Station in Humberside, are now fully operational. These appliances attend road traffic accidents over a vast area and are often called out to save lives.