Tragedy during training of volunteer firefighters in Ostrów Wielkopolski. A firefighter from the Volunteer Fire Department Żerniki in the Kalisz district suddenly fainted in a smoke chamber. Despite an hour-long fight by doctors, the 39-year-old's life could not be saved. At 6 p.m., sirens sounded in fire brigades across Poland and a minute of silence was paid to pay tribute to the deceased firefighter.
The incident occurred on Saturday morning in Ostrów Wielkopolski in a smoke chamber belonging to the district fire brigade headquarters. Exercises of Volunteer Fire Department units from the Kalisz district took place there. – One of the firefighters fainted in the smoke chamber. He was immediately helped by a paramedic at the scene. He was taken to hospital, where the fight for his life continued for almost an hour. Unfortunately, around 10 a.m., the doctor announced the death of our colleague – said Brigadier Sławomir Brandt, press spokesman for the Wielkopolska Provincial Commander of the State Fire Service, in an interview with tvn24.pl.
The circumstances of the firefighter's death are being investigated by the police and the prosecutor's office.
Condolences from the Commander-in-Chief
Chief Commander of the State Fire Service, Brig. Dr. Eng. Mariusz Feltynowski expressed his condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased. The entry appeared on the social media of the State Fire Service.
A minute of silence for the deceased firefighter
Today, tribute was paid to the deceased friend throughout Poland. At 6 p.m., sirens sounded in all State Fire Service and volunteer units across the country, and the comrades honored the deceased with a minute of silence.
There are over 65,000 volunteer firefighters and nearly three thousand professional firefighters in the Greater Poland Voivodeship.
What are smoke chamber exercises?
– Exercises are held periodically for both volunteer and professional firefighters. They are intended to make as realistic as possible the environment that firefighters encounter when extinguishing fires in residential buildings – i.e. tight rooms, elements where you have to look for an evacuation route, increased temperature, smoke. Of course, in the case of this chamber, this smoke is theatrical, it is not harmful. This is how we try to prepare and assess the firefighter's behavior in a safe way – described Brigadier Sławomir Brandt. He added: – Before such an exercise, first of all there must be a doctor's certificate that the firefighter can take part in it. There is a paramedic on site who checks the predispositions of each firefighter before entering the chamber – there is a performance test on a treadmill and on an endless ladder. Only then does the firefighter enter the chamber and the entire exercise is supervised by the operator.
Main photo source: TVN24