Hi! This is a short textual version of the next episode of the “We’ll figure it out” podcast, dedicated to people and projects that work for social change. In this new episode we discussed the topic of volunteering firefighters in Russia with Sofia Kosacheva, who, together with a team of like-minded people, founded her project “Movement of Volunteer Forest Firefighters” and has been working as a volunteer firefighter for almost 15 years. Sofia told us why it is so important for volunteers to be involved in fighting wildfires, how one can get into this field and what it is like to be a woman in firefighting.
First and last smoke poisoning
I got into forest firefighting by accident [in August 2010]. A friend of mine told me that she had met some cool guys who were fighting fires on Lake Ladoga and offered to join. She said that there are islands there, it’s very beautiful, boat rides, amazing nature and they need help with chores. From all this I heard, “boat ride” and “very beautiful”, and the firefighting part somehow escaped my attention. So I packed my bags and went on a trip.
It turned out that originally it was a group of friends who went on water trips on catamarans and every year saw more and more burned islands. They began to wonder why it wasn’t being put out and what could be done about it. For the first couple of years, the team consisted of a group of close friends, but by the tenth year they were recruiting volunteers through social media ads, and complete strangers like me started getting involved.
When I was a child, I was vacationing with my parents at the summer camp base, and due to the fault of some fisherman who built a campfire near the reeds, a fire broke out. Our base was in the way. I was interested in all this, so I joined the chain to pass the water. I felt very proud. When the professional firefighters arrived and put everything out, they were surprised that some men didn’t go and I, a little girl, wanted to help. So they carved me a medal out of wood that said “For bravery on a fire.” My parents often joke now that it was a life-changing experience.
Putting out one fire often takes more than one day, as there is also the process called “guarding the fire”. You have to return 2-3 days later and check if there is smoldering coal somewhere, which will lead to a fire rekindling. The fact that there are no roads on the islands, and everyone travels by boat, that not everyone knows how to use, makes it more complicated. If a second fire comes along, that’s usually multiple spots at once, and in a situation where there aren’t enough people, at some point you start to choose what to do with it all.
So when asked, “Are you ready? [to join the firefighting]” – you say, “Why, how can I not be?”
On my first visit to Ladoga, I was working on a motorized pump on the shore. I had a portative radio that would tell me to “turn the pump on” or “turn the pump off”. This is also an important function, but it is as far as possible from the actual events, so you can’t really turn it into an exciting tale. When the guys knocked down the main fire, I was invited to the edge to see what it all looked like and to try to work with the barrel myself – it is a tip that creates a compact stream of water. They explained to me how to use it properly so as not to get dirty, but I made a mistake and literally a second later I was all covered in mud. They said to me, “Well you’re baptised now, congratulations.” I also got my first – and last – smoke poisoning on that fire, and I was never on a fire without a respirator again.
When I went home that year, I learned that in the winter the guys organize a school for volunteers and give lectures. I realized that, first of all, I wanted to go to this school, and that by the next year I should come to the camp prepared. Since then there hasn’t been a year that I haven’t come to Ladoga. Now I am already leading the shifts myself, and I am also a member of the board of the organization.
There is Federal Law No. 69 “On Fire Safety”, which states that every citizen is obliged to take passive measures in extinguishing fires. That is, it is not a right, but an obligation. Everyone decides for himself what constitutes a passive measure. For some it is to call 112 at the sight of a fire, and for others it is to get certification as a forest fire extinguishing manager, gather a team of like-minded people, buy uniforms, equipment and go to help. This is our passive measure.
Women on fires
According to the law, it is impossible to conclude labor contracts with women in the city fire department. The professional standard of forest firefighters recently removed the specification that it must be a man of certain parameters. At the same time, there is a weight lifting restriction for women in the occupational safety regulations, which eliminates the possibility of most work on fires. On the one hand, thank you for your concern, but it would be more fair to divide workers by regulations rather than by gender.
There is no gender division in wildland fire volunteerism: everyone does what they can, and there are plenty of work options to participate in.
I certainly had my fair share of unpleasant encounters [because I am a female firefighter], but these are related to individual inadequate persons. Once I was yelled at by the head of the settlement when we arrived to extinguish a fire that they wanted to hide from reporting. Our forces were insufficient, so it was necessary to report to higher authorities. So the head instead started yelling at me and throwing all sorts of slurs, talking about where my place as a girl is, what I am doing here, and in general, you know, expressing his wish to finally force “all these nasty women” to obey. If you are a male volunteer, the officials may distrust you simply as a stranger, but with me their hesitations are also related to the fact that I am a woman. At the same time, half of the volunteers in firefighting are women. In general, the non-profit sector in Russia is full of women, and firefighting volunteering is one of the few areas where there are many men.
We need fire prevention education from childhood to retirement age
Nine out of ten fires are caused by human error. There are only three natural causes – a meteorite fall, a volcanic eruption and a dry thunderstorm. Fires don’t happen because of heat, drought, wind and sun, and bogs don’t know how to self-ignite. The sun cannot heat dry grass so hot that it catches fire – its burning temperature is 150 degrees. Any natural fire requires an external heat input. At the same time, there are many examples of incompetent statements from officials and journalists that the heat wave came and fires started. Suddenly it turns out that an abandoned cigarette butt does not affect all this. Here’s my favorite riddle: according to statistics, the number of fires along highways increases eastward. The question is, why? It has to do with the fact that the farther east you go, the more right-hand drive vehicles you get. So if a driver is smoking and throws a cigarette butt out of the window, in the west it falls in the middle of the road but in the east it falls on the curb.
We need fire prevention education from the early years to deep retirement age. Social surveys show that people still do not know the emergency numbers: 112 and 101 from a cell phone, 01 from a landline. The public services themselves pay very little attention to prevention, not targeting the audience at all. To attract the attention of young people, you need to go to TikTok, VK Reels. For the older generation, you have your TV. We have a website, dlpinfo.org, which has a lot of free educational materials for children and adults on how not to cause a fire and what to do if you see one.
Why you can’t solve the fire problem without volunteers
The volunteer forest firefighter movement now consists of 25 groups in 21 regions. These are people who all know each other and work according to the same standards. These groups patrol natural areas based on statistics, satellite images and weather forecasts. At the same time, Russians burn grass on their own every spring: it is believed that this kills bugs and snakes, etc. Lot’s of these illogical myths lead to the fact that every year houses and settlements burn down and people die, including firefighters.
For example, volunteers can track by satellite that there has been a grass fire in a bog, go out and check if there is a fire. If there is, they can extinguish it themselves. In the early stages, five organized volunteers with backpack forest fire extinguishers may be enough to prevent a situation when hundreds of people and heavy equipment will be needed. We also relay data to the local fire department. Because firefighters can’t do patrols of such large areas – they are tied to schools, kindergartens and hospitals. You can tell them the number of hotspots, how to get there, where to get water, and what equipment they will need.
It is quite difficult to become a volunteer firefighter. Because you have to do your own research, buy equipment and find a way to reach out to the community. It is not only the people who work directly on the extinguishing. The most important work, of course, happens behind the scenes. You can become an intellectual volunteer: if you are a doctor – you can lead first aid courses and complete first aid kits, a designer – create merchandise, a teacher – teach classes, pass on information, this works for any profession you can think of, actually. So come and join us.
If you can’t help yourself, with your hands, feet and warm heart, then help us with donations. There is no state support, and business support has become difficult, since many companies have left the country. We collect donations all the time: for the organization of the summer volunteer camp, for a fire truck, for daily activities. If you sign up for a monthly donation of even 100 rubles, it becomes easier for us to plan our work. This is precisely the moment when the fire can be put out with money.