RELIGIOUS BUILDINGS FIRE SAFETY IN UKRAINE

Abstract

Problem. Religious buildings with a large number of people are fire hazardous. In total, there are 17,407 religious buildings in Ukraine. Out of them, approximately 3,000 are highly fire hazardous wooden buildings.The fire danger feature of religious buildings is open fire usage: candles, torches, lamps, underground rooms with complex planning, lack of ventilation systems. Besides, ancient religious buildings are mostly built using wooden materials. Fires occuring there are resonant, causing material and spiritual damage to the state and society. On average, about 20 fires occur each year in religious buildings, including wooden temples of historical heritage.Рurpose. Fire analysis in religious buildings in Ukraine and their occurrence causes; fire safety of religious buildings research.Preventive measures for religious building fire safety in Ukraine are prioritised by state program for emergency response. The State Emergency Service of Ukraine constantly monitors compliance with fire safety standards, which includes regular facilities inspections, personnel training control to prevent fires and reduce the consequences of fires, development, implementation, and control of technical methods of safety.Research methods. To achieve this goal, further methods were used: historical, systemic, theoretical generalization, abstract, logical, analysis, synthesis, comparative, and statistical methods.The main results. The most common shortcomings in religious building fire protection are the lack or malfunction of automatic fire alarms, power grid requirement non-compliance with the rules of the power grid, improper facility provision of with primary fire extinguishers, lack of lightning and water supplies for firefighting. In most buildings, wooden structures are not treated with refractory mortar.Fire causes and ways to prevent and improve fire safety are analyzed, namely: fire protection of religious building wooden elements, dome space fire extinguishing systems, fire alarm systems, lightning protection, safe people’s evacuation, candlesticks installation on non-combustible surfaces, primary fire extinguishing equipment, fire condition qualitative inspection of the of the heritage building, etc.Conclusions. After service, buildings must be completely deenergized, lighted candles and open fires must not be left unattended in the church. In religious buildings, it is necessary to carry out fire protection of wooden elements constructions, to install fire extinguishing systems in domed space, fire alarm system, lightning protection, to watch serviceability of electric networks. Rules of fire safety requirements for religious buildings are aimed at solving an important task - religious buildings safety. Unfortunately, due to lack of funds, the most important requirements are not implemented to improve fire safety.