In April 2018, the urban landscape of Moscow was replenished with another magnificent sculptural composition. A monument to firefighters and rescuers appeared on Prechistenka Street, in the main department of the Ministry of Emergencies. The date of its opening - April 17 - was not chosen by chance. It was on this day exactly one hundred years ago that the Soviet fire department of Moscow was established.
Monument to firefighters: photo and location
“To the fire-fighters of Moscow” - such an inscription adorns the granite pedestal of the new monument. It was opened on April 17, 2018 with the participation of Moscow Deputy Mayor Pyotr Biryukov. A monument is dedicated to firefighters who died during the extinguishing of a large-scale fire that happened in September 2016 on Amurskaya Street. Then eight workers of the capital Ministry of Emergencies died.
The new monument to firefighters is located in the central part of the city at the address: Prechistenka street, 22, next to building 1. It is located in the courtyard of the historic building of the Prechistenskaya fire station. The easiest way to get here is by metro. Exit should be at the station "Kropotkinskaya", and then walk 600 meters in a westerly direction. Here is a place on the map of Moscow:
About Moscow Fire Department
From ancient times, the Golden-domed was built up mainly of wooden buildings. Firstly, this material was abundant in the vicinity of the city. Secondly, it was believed that life in wooden houses is much healthier than in stone or clay. Naturally, fire was one of the main enemies of Moscow for many centuries. Experts and historians find it difficult to calculate the exact number of fires that occurred in Moscow in the entire history of its existence. Some of them destroyed the city almost to the ground.
The first professional fire department in Moscow was established in 1804 by decree of Emperor Alexander I. At that time, high observation towers began to be built in the city. In April 1918, the Fire Department was established in the capital. Special fire trucks, stairs, and pumps replaced the horse-drawn carts; they began to install street hydrants.
Since then, the Moscow Fire Department has grown into a serious and powerful operational structure with modern extinguishing equipment, highly qualified personnel and an appropriate training base. Every day about three thousand firefighters and rescuers come on duty. Dispatchers of the metropolitan service daily receive and process at least two thousand phone calls.
About the fire ...
September 22, 2016 at about five o'clock in the evening in the eastern part of the capital there was a fire in a plastic warehouse. The exact address of the emergency: Amurskaya street, 1, building 9, near the metro station "Cherkizovskaya".
The fire very quickly swept over a vast area comparable to half of a professional football field. Great efforts and resources were thrown into its liquidation: in total, about 300 employees of the Ministry of Emergencies left for Amurskaya Street.
The fire was extinguished for 14 hours. Alas, eight firefighters died. All of them were on the roof of a burning building at the moment when it collapsed. At the cost of their life, they managed to install a water curtain to cool gas cylinders, which could explode at any moment and turn the fire into a catastrophe. In addition, the heroes managed to evacuate from the burning building at least one hundred people - warehouse workers.
Here are the names of these heroes:
- Alexey Akimov.
- Alexander Yurchikov.
- Alexander Korentsov.
- Roman Georgiev.
- Nikolay Golubev.
- Pavel Andryushkin.
- Pavel Makarochkin.
- Sergey Sinelyubov.
The firefighter monument, opened in the center of Moscow, is primarily dedicated to these fearless men.
About the monument
The monument to firefighters is a sculptural composition consisting of eight figures. The author of the monument is a Moscow sculptor and artist Evgeny Teterin. Figures of firefighters are cast in bronze. They are dressed in protective suits and are depicted during a short rest in between fights with a fiery demon.
The implementation of this project took place in two stages. First, back in December 2016, a competition was announced for the best sketch of a future monument. Absolutely everyone could take part in it - both professionals and amateurs. Ultimately, 30 applications were received for the competition. When analyzing the proposed sketches, the jury drew attention to the architectural value and artistic expressiveness of the projects. As a result, the winner of the competition was the project “Fire-fighters of Moscow”, developed by the teacher of Moscow Art Theater. Surikov Eugene Teterin.
The opening ceremony of the monument to firefighters ended with the act of laying flowers at the memorial, in memory of those who fell in battle with the treacherous and dangerous fiery enemy. Participants of the event also proposed to include this object in excursion routes in Moscow for citizens and guests of the capital. After all, next to the monument, in the building of the firehouse, there is an interesting museum collection that tells about the history and modern everyday life of the valiant metropolitan rescuers.