in the Lubelskie Region . Material prepared for the seminar - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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How to protect monuments against hazards

The activities

• f the Regional Working Group

for preventing crimes against monuments and the fire protection of monuments in the Lubelskie Region

Material prepared for the seminar Organised by the Office of Capital Conservator within the Framework of the international Project “ The Prevention of Fire Risks and Improving Systems for Extinguishing Fire in Municipal Old Towns classified as UNESCO World Cultural Heritage (HERITPROT)..

Aneta Jurkowska MSc (Eng.). Regional Office for the Protection of Monuments in Lubl

In order to ensure the proper protection of cultural property in the Lubelskie Region, on 29 June 2000 was created the Regional Working Group preventing organised crime against cultural and historic heritage and acting for fire protection of the monuments, bringing together representatives of:

• The Regional Police Office in Lublin
• The Regional Headquarters of the State Fire Service in Lublin
• The Department of Safety and Crisis Management
• f the Lubelskie Governor’s Office in Lublin,
• The Diocesan Monument Conservators (Archdiocese of Lublin,

Sandomierz Diocese, Siedlce Diocese, Radom Diocese, and Zamość-Lubaczów Diocese),

• The Lublin Regional Conservator, who has become the coordinator
• f the activities of the Group

In 2000, District Inspection Teams were created. They are to make direct inspection of monuments. During each inspection, representatives of the following institutions were present: − District Police Offices − District Fire Services − District Offices − The Department of Safety and Crisis Management

• f the Lubelskie Governor’s Office in Lublin,

− Diocesan Monument Conservators, − The Lublin Regional Conservator,

• - The Border Guard (in border areas).

The vast majority of inspected sites are religious buildings The rest – secular public utility buildings. Each inspection of the Regional Working Group is preceded by a written notice to the owner / administrator of the monument, according to a pre-set inspection schedule.

Each year, the activities cover both the historic buildings that have not yet been inspected by the Group, and those already known to its members as requiring re-inspection, in order to check the implementation of previous recommendations.

During the inspection, each time a post-inspection report is made, which describes the current state of the facility’s protection and appropriate recommendations for its improvement. All comments and irregularities are passed on to the owner / administrator of the monument, along with an indication of possible alternative solutions.

Elements to be assessed

• the overall condition of the building and its location,
• mechanical and physical protection,
• fire protection,
• electronic protection.

After each inspection, in terms of fire protection, the following elements, among others, are to be assessed:

• the historic building environment,
• access roads (pavement, width),
• accessible fire-fighting equipment and marking
• f the place of its storage,
• the marking of the main current switch,
• escape routes and exits flow rates and marking,
• operating procedures in case of fire, including a list of

emergency phone numbers,

• test reports concerning wiring and lightning protection systems and

the maintenance of the existing signal and alarm system.

• St. Florian’s

Parish Church in Krężnica Jara.

Built in 1885 on the site of previous two wooden churches destroyed by fires (in 1595 and 1883).

Examples of timely maintenance and replacement of fire-fighting equipment

Examples of markings

• f the main current switches.

Examples of markings of routes and emergency exits according to the regulations of the State Fire Services.

Examples of instructions in case of fire placed in accessible locations.

Officers of the State Fire Services, acting in the framework of the Regional Working Group, carry out inspection and recognition activities in the manner specified in the Act on the State Fire Service.

On the basis of separate reports made by them and concerning inspection and recognition activities, describing identified irregularities, the appropriate administrative decisions are issued by municipal and district chiefs of State Fire Services.

During each inspection, in terms of burglary protection, among others, the following elements are to be assessed:

• exterior doors,
• door bars,
• internal doors (auxiliary rooms / choir / loft),
• windows / window bars,
• roof hatches / exits to the attic,
• ways of storing movable monuments and the most valuable

cult objects,

• range, functionality, and efficiency of existing alarm

systems.

Examples of improper protection

From the year 2000, in general,1,113 monument inspections were performed (including: 550 inspections and 563 re-inspections).

Officials inspected the following types of monuments:

− wooden and brick, − housing a large amount of movable cultural property, − designated by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage to

have a fire alarm system connected to the monitoring station

• f the State Fire Services

Summary of the data concerning the equipment and alarm systems of the monuments inspected by the Regional Working Group in the years 2000 – 2012.

Number

• f conducted

Number of facilities with alarm systems (on the day of the first inspection) Number of facilities where it is required to install a fire- alarm system, connected to the signal receiving station of the State Fire Services (according to the list made by the Regional Conservator in force since 2005) Number of facilities where a compulsory fire alarm system (FAS) was installed along with connection to the signal receiving station in State Fire Services

inspections re-inspections anti-burgl. fire prot.

anti-burgl. and fire prot.

religious facilities secular facilities religious facilities secular facilities

550 563 54 10 39 17 27 4 24 1113 103 44 28

Among the most frequent and also the most serious irregularities found during the inspections are

IN TERMS OF FIRE PROTECTION: ► lack of current technical inspections of wiring

and lightning protection systems (or the lack of a lightning protection system or its improper installation), ► lack of marking of main current switches and gas shut-off valves.

Lack of proper marking of the main current switches.

Among the most frequent and also the most serious irregularities found during the inspections are

IN TERMS OF FIRE PROTECTION: ► untimely maintenance and replacement of fire-fighting

equipment and the lack of marking of storage places of fire- fighting equipment, ► lack of marking of emergency routes and exits.

Untimely maintenance and replacement of fire-fighting equipment.

Among the most frequent and also the most serious irregularities found during the inspections are

IN TERMS OF FIRE PROTECTION: ► lack of instructions with emergency phone

numbers in the event of fire ► improperly-secured network sockets and electrical connections.

Improper protection of electrical wiring.

In 2012, inspections of a total of 86 monuments were performed, including:

• 3 wooden monuments and 30 brick ones as new inspections,
• 17 wooden monuments and 36 brick ones as re-inspections.

In the area of activity:

• The Regional Office for the Protection of Monuments in Lublin: 28

facilities,

• The Delegation Office in Biała Podlaska: 20 facilities,
• The Delegation Office in Chełm - 12 facilities,
• The Delegation Office in Zamość - 26 facilities.

During the re-inspection, it was found that post-inspection recommendations were fully implemented in 16 landmarks, partly in the case of 35, and in the case of 2 they were not implemented.

The condition of the fire and burglary protection, observed during inspections in 2012:

Among 33 newly–inspected landmarks In 53 re-inspected landmarks an alarm system was present in 13 an alarm system was present in 15

including : including :

• fire protection – 0,
• fire protection – 0,
• anti-burglary – 8,
• anti-burglary – 4,
• anti-burglary & fire protection – 5,
• anti-burglary & fire protection – 11,

which constitutes 39% of the group of facilities. which constitutes 29% of the group of facilities. Equipped with fire alarm system : Equipped with burglary and robbery alarm system:

81%

67%

: Access roads (pavement, width): Equipped win accessible fire-fighting equipment: Marking of the main current switch: Marking of storage locations for fire extinguishers: Marking of escape routes and exits: Instructions in case of fire Access roads (pavement, width):

correct

none

correct

none

correct

none

Securing main doors: Securing interior doors: Securing entrance side doors: Securing windows : Securing door bars: Securing roof hatches:

correct incorrect correct incorrect correct incorrect

When analysing the activities of the Regional Working Group in the last 13 years, it should be noted that the situation in the field of the security of historic buildings slowly but steadily continues to improve:

• more and more buildings are equipped with new accessible fire-

fighting equipment,

• utdated fuse boxes and power connections are being replaced
• renovations of buildings are being carried out, during which old

wiring and lightning protection systems are being replaced,

• alarm systems are being installed more frequently

Among others, thanks to the activity of t h e Regional Working Group for preventing crimes against monuments and the fire protection of monuments, in the years 2008-2009 subsidies from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage were gained in order to install alarm systems in the following churches in the Lubelskie Region:

• The Transfiguration church in Borowica,
• St. Andrew the Apostle’s church in Borów,
• The Elevation of the Holy Cross church in Dłużnów,
• St. Stanisław’s church in Górecko Kościelne,
• St. Basil’s church in Świerszczów
• St. Thomas Becket the Bishop and Martyr’s church in Targowisko.

Borowica Borów Górecko K. Świerszczów

In addition to inspection activities, the Regional Working Group:

• prepares and distributes informational materials (handbooks,

brochures) devoted to the proper protection of religious monuments,

• provides training primarily targeted at the administrators of historic

a n d religious places concerning the proper methods of securing against fires and burglaries, and also provides information on regulations in force concerning t h e security and protecion of landmarks,

• conducts training, for the proper development of landmark protection

plans in the event of an armed conflict and emergency situations.

The actions undertaken by the Regional Working Group are consistent with another initiative functioning since 2006, i.e. the governmental programme of reducing crime and unsocial behaviour: “Together, it's safer”, under which, following the principle of cooperation with other units, the Lublin Regional Landmarks Conservator carries out tasks concerning “The protection of t h e national heritage”, encompassing:

• the organisation of landmark inspections with collected cultural goods, carried
• ut by representatives of the Police, the State Fire Service and the Lublin

Regional Landmark Conservator,

• the propagation of modern technological security measures at monuments -

from theft and damage, as well as natural disasters,

.

• the continuation of the systemic registration of monuments registration with

photographic and descriptive documentation,

• conducting training, publishing, collaboration with specialised structures of the

Ministry of Culture and cultural heritage protection,

• improving the exchange of information on stolen and targeted monuments,
• creating a central information system of licences issued for the export of the

monuments abroad.

.

The planned activities of the Regional Working Group, aimed at improving the protection of historic buildings:

• an agreement between t h e Bishops' Curias in the Lubelskie

Region, and the Police, the State Fire Service, and the Lublin Regional Monument Conservator on cooperation for crime and fire prevention in religious buildings,

• latent marking and carrying out of detailed photographic documentation
• f religious cultural assets,
• the continuation of the conducting of training sessions with

administrators of historic buildings, especially churches,

• the continuation of the conducting of inspections of historic buildings,

• the continuation of the notification of monument users and

administrators of the need to set up a "Book of a building" “where entries are made relating to the periodic inspection of installations, creating inventory books, preparation of minutes of the transfer and acquisition of so-called mobile monuments by priests leaving and entering,

• the continuation of the notification of owners, users and administrators
• f historic buildings of the need for historic preservation plans in the

event of armed conflict and crisis, if they are not prepared in advance, and the updating of them

All threats to the cultural heritage, i.e.: natural disasters, wars, looting, extraordinary environmental hazards, floods, technical failures, fires and other local hazards, can cause irreversible loss of national heritage regardless of the source and its causes. However, the fire hazard in historic buildings is dominant that may

• ccur both in time of war and peacetime, during, riots acts of

vandalism or theft.

Among t h e dominant factors affecting the fire risks, the most common causes of spreading fire in all kinds of facilities, not only those historical, are:

• defects in electrical wiring and heating equipment and

systems, or their misuse,

• the carelessness of people, which consists of, among others,

starting fires caused by negligence, carelessness or ignorance about handling the fire, flammable materials or objects, or devices that may cause a fire,

• lightning, coupled with the lack of a lightning protection system.
• deliberate arson.

Losses were estimated at PLN 300,000.

20/21 April 2010, a fire in a 15th-century building at 7 Dominikańska Street in the Old Town of Lublin. Cause: the accidental starting a fire or intentional arson.

9/10 August 2010, a fire in the former camp kitchen barracks in the State Museum at

• Majdanek. The cost of rebuilding the barracks was estimated at about PLN 1.2 million, it is

impossible to determine the total loss of the destroyed shoes of prisoners in the material

• dimension. Cause: spontaneous combustion of building materials stored inside the building.

11/12 July 2012, a fire at the Our Lady of Kazan Orthodox Church from 1912 (now the filial Roman Catholic chapel

• f the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Włodawa).

Cause: lightning strike. The losses were estimated at about PLN 2 million.

In order to reduce the scale of the threat and to ensure national cultural property an adequate level of protection, common understanding is needed as well as the broad cooperation of Government services and the owners and administrators of historic buildings. The combination of passive and active fire protection measures is the key to reducing the level of fire risk, minimising the effects of the elements and protecting landmarks from damage. Fire prevention is much cheaper compared to the huge losses caused by the irreversible destruction of priceless treasures.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

Prepared

by Aneta Jurkowska Senior Inspector in historic preservation at the Regional Office for the Protection of Monuments in Lublin