After the explosion, random basement inspections were to be carried out in the tenement house. It didn't work. There is a new project

The announcement of mass, random inspections of basements was a reaction to the tragic explosion in a tenement house in Poznań, which resulted in the death of two firefighters. The deputy head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration also appealed to managers of multi-family houses to control what the residents keep in the basements to prevent another tragedy from occurring.

“From the point of view of the state authorities responsible for compliance with regulations in this area, we will remind about this and carry out random inspections in cooperation with local governments and city guards,” the deputy minister said in an interview with PAP in August.

Unfortunately, nothing has happened so far. With a few exceptions for municipal buildings, no “random” inspections of basements for fire safety take place. Why? Building administrators and representatives of city guards point out that they are practically unable to enter tenants' basements. They have no legal tools.

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– We don't carry out such inspections, we haven't issued any fines, and we're still on this issue. Since the tragic fire, when the idea of ​​transferring control to city guards arose, no one followed it up. It simply did not acquire a legal dimension – says senior inspector Joanna Wojtach, spokeswoman for the City Guard in Szczecin.

A similar situation is in other cities in Poland.

– Everyone has heard about the announced inspections with the participation of city or municipal guards, but nothing has happened so far – Przemysław Piwecki, spokesman for the Poznań city guard, briefly commented.

– The City Guard in Toruń has not received any guidelines regarding the inspections in question, and the enforcement of fire safety regulations is beyond the legal competence of city guards – Jarosław Paralusz, deputy commander of the City Guard in Toruń, wrote to us.

There are no inspections of basements by city guards in Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdańsk, Katowice, Słupsk, Lublin, Gdynia and Olsztynand these are only the cities to which we sent questions. In each city, guard representatives emphasize the lack of guidelines and, above all, lack of powers.

– There was great excitement and proposals from the Ministry of Interior and Administration that inspections should be carried out by local governments with the participation of city guards. This did not happen for legal reasons, because for us the guidelines are not binding, we have to have a legal basis. The act and implementing regulations must be amended in the form of a regulation giving us such powers. That hasn't happened yet. There is a loophole in the law, the ministry's guidelines or appeals have no legal force for us – says senior inspector Joanna Wojtach.

– When it comes to multi-family buildings, we have a number of legal regulations related to maintaining these buildings in proper condition – inspections of gas installations, chimney flues – this element related to the storage of hazardous materials is part of the obligations of the manager, the owners themselves, and the residents. So, when inspecting these obligations under construction law, this element of storing hazardous materials will also be an element of the inspection – said Deputy Minister Czesław Mroczek in August.

However, from the point of view of city guards, the situation is not that simple.

– We can only enter the basement in two cases. First of all, if there is a furnace in it, we can carry out the so-called inspection. anti-smog. Pursuant to the personal authorizations granted to us by the president, we can carry out inspections of furnaces: their class and the type of fuel burned. Nothing more. Secondly, in some cities, guards can enter basements to check whether rodent control has been carried out. Only these two cases entitle us to enter the storage rooms – says senior inspector Joanna Wojtach from the Szczecin city guard.

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The situation is similar in housing cooperatives. Managers cannot enter the basement without the owner's consent. The only exception may be a failure.

– We do not have formal or legal tools to allow entry into the basement, with one specific exception regarding the justified need to remove a failure. Our activities are limited to activities related to common areas – including basement corridors – informs Marek Majchrzak, deputy president of the management board of the “Chełm” Housing Cooperative in Gdańsk.

In cooperatives, rooms are inspected on the occasion of technical inspections. But they don't usually apply to basements.

– People using cooperative apartments are obliged to make their premises available to us in order to inspect the technical condition. We carry out such inspections in apartments, because we need to check whether the gas is tight and whether there is proper venting; these are the so-called inspections provided for in the construction law. As far as I know, this does not include basements. So far, no such need has been seen because there are no such devices in basements. We do not routinely carry out such inspections, says Anna Duch, press spokesman for the Katowice Housing Cooperative.

The owner must agree to the inspectioneven if the administration has knowledge that hazardous materials are stored in the basement.

– Inspections of individual basements are carried out if there is a reasonable suspicion that flammable or dangerous materials are stored in these rooms or when unpleasant odors are emanating from the basements. There are no legal tools that would allow for effective and quick access to basements if the owner refuses to voluntarily provide access. So far, however, we have not recorded a refusal to make them available for inspection – says Jerzy Ausztol, administration manager of the “Białostoczek” housing estate in the Białystok Housing Cooperative.

The only tool that remains in the hands of building managers is appealing to residents by publishing and posting notices.

– We use announcements to call for the removal of movable property obstructing fire routes, setting a deadline for removing the obstacles. In critical cases, obstacles are removed by our services. We periodically remind you in the form of leaflets and posters about the ban on storing certain materials in the building's basements. We can only count on the residents' understanding of the threats, says Marek Majchrzak, deputy president of the management board of the “Chełm” Housing Cooperative in Gdańsk.

The situation is different when the case concerns municipal premises. The City Guard in Białystok, together with employees of the Municipal Property Management of the Białystok City Hall, carried out inspections in the basements of buildings owned by the Białystok Commune.

– Inspections were carried out in 31 multi-apartment buildings. In one case, a gas cylinder was found. The owner was obliged to clean it up immediately, which he did, informs the inspector general. Marta Rybnik from the Białystok guard.

In response to our questions regarding basement inspections, the ministry announced draft changes to the regulations. A new feature will be the obligation to regularly inspect buildings for fire safety. Managers are responsible for carrying them out.

“At the Ministry of Interior and Administration a draft act amending the Fire Protection Act was prepared (of September 5 this year), according to which periodic inspections of buildings are to be carried out important due to the need to ensure protection of life, health, property or the environment against fire, natural disaster or other local threat during their use,” we read in the information from the ministry.

These reviews are to consist of: checking, at least once every 5 years, the state of fire protection.

Does this project change anything in terms of controlling private basement rooms? The lawyers we asked for their opinion on this matter point out that the services will still not have the authority to enter tenants' rooms unannounced. In the current legal situation, there are no grounds to conduct such inspections, and the ministry's project does not change this situation.

– When carrying out their work, the fire brigade must comply with the law and may not arbitrarily enter private rooms – explains the attorney. Dr. Magdalena Durlik-Olszewska from the LexInvest law firm. – Owners of private basements may, however, voluntarily make them available for inspection on their own initiative. The Fire Brigade may inspect a basement belonging to a private person only in the event of a justified threat to the life or health of the inhabitants, while respecting general provisions of law – including property rights.

This means one thing – controlling storage units will continue to be difficult. The owners' consent is required.

– Changes proposed by the Ministry of Interior and Administration they do not expand the powers of the services in the context of carrying out random inspections of basements. They do not provide grounds for entering private rooms without the owner's consent, which constitutes a significant barrier in detecting potential threats – explains legal advisor Marek Rackiewicz.

However, the proposed regulations may have another effect – educational.

– Awareness of the possibility of control may motivate owners and managers to take proper care of the security of real estate. It may also have a positive impact on individual owners who will remove dangerous substances from basements, says legal advisor Marek Rackiewicz.

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Hazardous materials must not be stored in the basement (as well as in attics and attics, within staircases and corridors). These include:

• flammable gases (such as: propane-butane, acetylene, flammable gases used as a factor in air conditioning installations),

• flammable liquids (such as: gasoline, solvents, alcohols, kerosene and others that can be ignited at ambient temperature),

• explosives and pyrotechnic articles (such as: fireworks, sparklers, smoke candles, flares and flares, bullets, grenades, unexploded ordnance),

• other materials if their storage, processing or other use may result in fire.

A fire and explosion in a tenement house at Kraszewskiego Street occurred on the night of August 24-25. The services were called to a fire in the basement. Five minutes after the call, firefighters were already on site. While searching the basement, where they were looking for the source of the fire, two explosions occurred, after which the fire quickly developed.

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Two firefighters who were conducting reconnaissance in the basement died in the rubble. 11 firefighters and three other people were injured. Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Wiesław Leśniakiewicz said that “the power of the explosion was so great that the firefighters' helmets were torn off their heads.” At the peak of the firefighting operation, about 100 firefighters and about 30 fire trucks were working on site.

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