Activity of fire protection units in the Altai Territory (1953-1965)
After the formation of the NKVD of the USSR, in 1934 the Main Department of Fire Protection, which later had various names, began to function. The period under review (1953-1965) included the reform of the law enforcement system at the beginning of the arrival of the new leadership of the country, which began in March 1953, after the death of I. V. Stalin. The fire department was part of a single power structure, along with other police units of the penitentiary system. In the course of numerous transformations at this time firefighters were included in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, then since 1955 in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RSFSR, since 1962 to the Ministry of Public Order Protection (MOO) RSFSR. Fires of varying complexity caused serious damage to the national economy of the Altai Territory. People and animals (both domestic and wild) died from the fire, and infrastructure, crops, forests were destroyed. The directors of the fire departments carried out constant monitoring, calculated the so-called percentage of “burnability”, determined the material damage from fires. The causes of fires were, as usual, a gross violation of fire safety rules, faulty electrical wiring, natural phenomena and deliberate arson. Fire protection units together with voluntary formations from among local residents carried out preventive measures aimed at preventing fires as well as together with other “power” services they promptly eliminated fires, saved people, animals and material valuables. The Soviet system of personnel training for all law enforcement agencies (including fire protection) included various levels, which was constantly being improved and was aimed at professional training and retraining of its employees. Equipping fire departments with technical means was still not enough, but their gradual equipping was underway.