Hundreds of firefighters, policemen and foresters are active in the Biebrza National Park. Terrestrials from 1 Podlasie BOT are besides fighting the component with the support of Bayraktars from the 12th Unmanned Air Ship Base. This morning, it was reported that the fire did not spread and continued to extinguish. However, the situation is dynamic and the conditions are unfavourable.
Soldiers 1 of the Podlasie Territorial Defence Brigade (1 PBOT) were directed to assist in extinguishing burning reeds in Biebrza National Park after the Easter Emergency Staff convened on Sunday. At the request of the Podlasie voivode, 1 PBOT commander Colonel Mieczysław Gurgielewicz sent on Monday a 100 military operations along with equipment (firefighting suits, dampers, shovels, Jelcze, Fordy Rangers). After almost 4 days since the outbreak of the fire, the territorials are constantly on full-day work there.
– We've been in place since 7:00 a.m. and we're proceeding. We come from Białystok and surrounding towns. present we are 112," says Lt. Paweł Ciborowski, commander of WZZ “Biebrza”. The lieutenant has been active in the fight against the component from the very beginning, as has about 50 another 1 PBOT soldiers. Others shall exchange as much as possible and available at the time. However, there has not been a day erstwhile a 100 sub-ladies of territorialists would not appear on the service.
When asked about weather conditions on the site, the officer talks about continuous changes. The first day was truly hard due to the wind and thick smoke. It started raining a small on Tuesday. At night the temperature fell and we were greeted by dew. The sky was cloudy, so the moisture remained on the ground. But our joy did not last long. At noon, the clouds disappeared and it started to get hot again, says Lieutenant Ciborowski.
The main task of 1 PBOT soldiers in the Biebrza National Park is to suppress fire and guarantee that the flames do not penetrate further areas fenced off by a two-metre-long earth strip from which the top layer of grass was collected. On Tuesday evening, territorialists besides helped firefighters make the water main. – Besides, we are digging through parts of the bog with shovels so that the water flows into the ground. The fire of peat bogs is frequently not visible, due to the fact that all the drama takes place under the surface. We are doing everything we can to prevent this – says WZZ commander “Biebrza” who keeps in head Fire in Biebrza National Park 2020. Then the firefire took 8 days, and the fire consumed about 5,000 hectares of peat bogs.
It was then that 1st PBOT soldiers fought the fire side by side with firefighters and representatives of another services for the first time. The equipment (among another things firefighting suits and dampers) they have received is inactive utilized today. Territorials from the Podlasie brigade, which is part of the MON crisis management system, regularly participate in non-military crisis management training.
1 The Podlasie Territorial Defence Brigade of General Władysław Liniarski, ps. “Mścisław” was formed in 2016 as 1 of the first OT brigades. The formation has more than 2500 soldiers and consists of 3 battalions of light infantry (in Białystok, Łomża and Dąbrowa-Uczydły), 2 battalions of border defence (in Suwałki and Hajnówka) and independent companies.
In addition to the territorials, soldiers of 12 Bases of Unmanned Air Ships are besides active in rescue operations in Biebrza National Park. Wednesday morning with bases in Mirosławec (Western Pomeranian) another drone launched TB-2 Bayraktarwhich identifies the areas affected by the fire. Photos and video images are being sent live to command headquarters. Thanks to thermovision, Turkish unmanneds detect and indicate subsurface peat fires and hidden fire sources.
