The first large-scale exercise to practice responding to emergencies in the China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone

Representatives of the Minsk Oblast Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry practiced responding to an emergency in the China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone on 30 November.

In line with the scenario the roof of one of the buildings caught fire due to negligence in the course of hot works. The fire spread fast due to strong winds. Fire-fighters had to put out the fire and prevent it from reaching nearby structures.

After that the emergency service personnel practiced dealing with fire in an administrative building that can house 800 people. Emergencies Ministry personnel had to evacuate people from the fifth floor of the building. Different means of transporting people to the ground were demonstrated such as a landing airbag, steeplejacking, and aerial work platforms.

In the course of the exercise the rescue workers also worked together with a rapid response team of the Belarusian Society of the Red Cross. A first aid station was deployed as well as a sorting station for the victims at the emergency site.

Kirill Koroteyev, First Deputy Director General of SZAO Industrial Park Development Company, noted that a lot of facilities are being built in the park, this is why decisions were made to use one of them as a fire station. “It is being built now. It will start working next year. It is the immediate goal for the short term,” said Kirill Koroteyev. “We closely work with the Emergencies Ministry. Today’s exercise was extremely important also because the managing company has already moved to the park. At present about 100 people work in the building where the exercise took place.” The official went on saying that a resident company – a Chinese company – will move into a neighboring building next week. An agreement was signed a short while ago with a company, which intends to start making fire robots in the park.