There are more than three weeks left before the end of 2017, but some departments have already started to sum up the results of the outgoing year. One of the first, as well as it is necessary responsible for extreme situations, The head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation Vladimir Puchkov was one of the first who arrived to meet with journalists.
"It was a difficult and intense year. Almost 200 thousand lives were saved from fires, in emergency situations, in road accidents and other disasters due to the joint work of firefighters, rescuers, doctors and other specialists. 228 large natural and man-made fires were liquidated, which required a federal response, the employment of a powerful task force of the Russian Ministry of Emergencies, the interaction with federal structures and regions of our country. More than 114 thousand man-made fires were extinguished," Vladimir Puchkov said.
He emphasized that this year the water safety services were actively working: "The development of small-size crafts is stable in the Russian Federation. The number of small boats owned by Russian citizens has increased by 80-100 thousand units in the last five years, but at the same time, the number of accidents and losses is steadily decreasing."
In addition, according to Puchkov, in the outgoing year, the mountain rescue service, as well as pyrotechnic units, cleared more than 46,000 unexploded ordnance, World War II arial bombs.
"Fire and rescue services have fulfilled their responsibilities energetically. Response standards were met - in 60 seconds our units were mobilised, 10 minutes - response time in a city and 20 minutes - in rural areas. In order to cover remote rural settlements, especially in Siberia, the Far East, in other regions, the Ministry of Emergency Situations has continued the development of the corps of voluntary fire and rescue services. Today, about 8% of fires are extinguished with the involvement of volunteer fire departments and all working departments, especially in remote rural settlements."
