As part of the republican campaign "Together for Safety", a raid team visited the villages of Horki rural council. The team included Larisa Vitkovskaya, Head of Affairs of Horki Rural Executive Committee; Dmitry Bykov, district police inspector, lieutenant of militia; Igor Grigorenko, inspector of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, senior lieutenant of internal service; Anastasia Krukova, social work specialist of the Territorial Centre for Social Services for the Population; Nikolai Gardionok, state energy supervision inspector; and the author of these lines.
As part of the republican campaign "Together for Safety", a raid team visited the villages of Horki rural council. The team included Larisa Vitkovskaya, Head of Affairs of Horki Rural Executive Committee; Dmitry Bykov, district police inspector, lieutenant of militia; Igor Grigorenko, inspector of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, senior lieutenant of internal service; Anastasia Krukova, social work specialist of the Territorial Centre for Social Services for the Population; Nikolai Gardionok, state energy supervision inspector; and the author of these lines. The first stop was the apartment of Tamara Vasilevskaya. The woman is registered there alone and, according to information, drinks alcohol. At the time of the raid team's arrival, she was at home, sleeping. The inspector from the Ministry of Emergency Situations briefly reminded her of safety rules when handling stoves, gas stoves, and other heating appliances, and issued a leaflet. Meanwhile, Nikolai Gardionok checked the electricity meter readings. The woman assured that she had "literally just been to the post office the day before and paid for electricity".
The next house and its resident were a complete contrast to the first. A neat fence, a clean yard, tidy outbuildings, and a well-kept garden – everything indicated that a diligent hostess lived here. Maria Chalaya was born in 1947, but looks much younger. And her character is not that of an elderly grandmother. She doesn't sit still, always finding something for her hardworking hands to do. Even now, she met the guests not inside the house, but came out of the garden where she was about to whitewash the trees.
Igor Grigorenko checked the autonomous fire alarm. The device gave a test signal, indicating it was fully operational. After bidding farewell to Maria Ivanovna, they moved on.
Near the end of the street, in a semi-detached house, live mother Lyudmila Kulikova and her son Sergey. At the time of the raid team's arrival, Lyudmila and her sister Raisa were sitting in the room, resting. Meanwhile, the son was attending to household chores, preparing food for the livestock. The house was heated, and warmth emanated from the stove. Nikolay Gardionok checked the meter and drew attention to the electrical wiring in one of the rooms, strongly recommending the replacement of several meters of wire. The local police inspector inquired about the general situation, asking if any suspicious individuals had been noticed.
In the village of Zornitsa, we drove up to the first house on the outskirts. I recalled that a few years ago I had written about this house and its residents. Later, while working on a story, I reviewed the editorial archives and in issue No. 42 of May 23, 2008, I indeed found a note titled "Devils from Zornitsa." It was about Taisiya Yakovlevna and Konstantin Stepanovich. Both had long and distinguished working careers, and in their well-deserved retirement, they commanded respect and authority among both fellow villagers and government representatives. It was not for nothing that they were nominated for the district competition "Best Veteran Homestead" at that time.
Konstantin Semyonovich is no longer with us. Tatyana Yakovlevna and her daughter Olga live in the house, and another daughter with her children was visiting. Igor Grigorenko checked the autonomous fire alarm – it turned out the battery was dead, and he recommended purchasing a new one. During the briefing, he reminded them about the dangers of burning dry grass. In spring, this poses a particular risk, as household outbuildings and even residential houses can burn down along with the dry grass.
In the village of Borovnya, we first visited the homestead of Elena Mikhailovna Gavrilchik. There was order on the street and in the house; the stove was heated. In one place, the stove, however, was cracked. The hostess explained that this crack had appeared recently. In the near future, once the heating season ends and the stove no longer needs to be fired, she will definitely conduct an inspection and repair, plastering and whitewashing where necessary.
The last house visited belonged to Nikolay Astashov. More precisely, it was the house of his mother, who had passed away not long ago. The man, apart from the death certificate, had not processed any other documents. At the time of the raid team's arrival, another man was in the house with him, and they were drinking.
It was immediately apparent that the owner abused alcohol. To my surprise, I learned that he was not yet 40 years old, though he looked closer to 50! The house was in complete disarray, with rubbish piled up in heaps. Cigarette butts were everywhere. It was evident that Nikolai Astashov had never even heard of fire safety rules, or if he had, he constantly ignored them. A fire was not far off. After a few minutes inside the house, as soon as I stepped outside, I breathed a sigh of relief, smelling the fresh air again – despite the approaching bad weather and the beginning of a drizzle.
The campaign will continue until the end of April. During this time, it is planned to inspect all houses and apartments where single elderly people and disabled individuals reside.
Vasily MATYRKA.
In the photos: members of the raid team talking with Leonid Yarshov; the mess in Nikolai Astashov's house.
Photo by the author.