In Transcarpathia, there is a unique volunteer church fire brigade

For 11 years, the volunteers from the village of Dertsen in Mukachevo district of Transcarpathian region have been working side by side with professional firefighters. There is unique volunteer church fire brigade here.

The idea of ​​its creation was conceived by a pastor of the local Reformed Church Mykola Zhukovsky back in 2005. Fires in Mukachevo district occur quite frequently. And the distance from the state fire units stationed in Mukachevo to Dertsen is more than 18 kilometers. So, the decision to create a fire brigade, that would protect the village from merciless fire, was made quickly.

At first, Mr. Mykola wrote a letter to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Hungary with a request to assist in the purchase of a fire truck and about a week later received a reply. Fire truck "Csepel" was found in the city of Tatabánya and granted for use to the volunteer church fire brigade. The initiative of Mr. Mykola was supported by local residents. Twenty volunteers were recruited from among them. First, future firefighters were trained by professionals from Tatabánya to use the foreign equipment. This was followed by tactical training with Mukachevo firefighters. And then the work began.

For 11 years, volunteers have been called more than 300 times to eliminate fires, accidents, flooding and to rescue people. If necessary, Dertsen firefighters help their colleagues in neighboring Hungary. In 2013, when the river Danube burst its banks, the volunteers eliminated the aftermath of the flood.

In everyday life, they are chefs, farmers, teachers, but when the call for help comes, within minutes, they turn into courageous and brave volunteer firefighters.

Today, the number of volunteers has increased significantly – there are now 40 of them. The equipment is also being constantly updated with the help of Reformed churches and fire units from the Netherlands, Germany, Hungary and other countries.  

Volunteers from the village of Dertsen once again proved that it is possible to form in the community a team of volunteer firefighters. One needs only to have a desire to protect their family and home from disaster.

Office of the State Emergencies Service of Ukraine in Transcarpathian region