26 March 2022, Buyukeceli, Turkey. – The Office for the Prevention and Response to Emergency Situations (AFAD) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Turkey awarded the firefighters of AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC with the Certificates of Appreciation for their participation in extinguishing the forest fires in the summer of 2021 in the areas of Aydincik and Yesilovacik in Mersin province.
The ceremony was held on the territory of the fire department at the Akkuyu NPP construction site. Sergey Butckikh, First Deputy of the General Director of AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC, Director of the NPP under construction, handed the certificates to the firefighters. The Certificates of Appreciation were awarded by AFAD to 38 employees of the fire safety service of AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC.
Congratulating his colleagues, Sergey Butckikh addressed the firefighters with the words of gratitude: “The situation with the forest fires in the province of Mersin last summer was assessed as extremely dangerous. The fires were localized and eliminated thanks to your joint work with the fire services of the region. You ensured eliminating all possible fire risks in the near-site territory of the NPP, and due to your efforts, all work at the construction site was carried out in a regular mode and did not stop. But the most important merit of your work is saving people’s lives, protecting residential buildings, hospitals, hectares of forest, gardens, farmlands. The Certificates of Appreciation that you have received today are a well-deserved recognition of your hard work and high professionalism!”
The fire situation in the province of Mersin escalated at the end of July 2021. From July 28, around the clock in two shifts, the firefighters of AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC worked to eliminate the fire in the settlements of Aydincik and Yesilovacik, providing support to the emergency services of the province of Mersin. By the morning of July 30, large fires in the settlement of Aydincik were completely eliminated. After that, the forces and facilities were relocated to Yesilovacik to extinguish the spreading forest fire in the area. The complete elimination of the open fire in the burning forest areas was ensured by the evening of August 1. The fire on an area of over 1,500 hectares was evaluated as the highest level of danger according to the classification, adopted by the Republic of Turkey.
Roman Melnikov, Head of the Fire Safety Service of AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC reported, “In July 2021, AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC received a request from the local authorities to provide support in extinguishing fires in the Aydincik area. The fire was spreading with enormous speed, and the region's own forces were not enough to fight the fire in an effective manner. We urgently organized our fire brigade on a backup vehicle. All the employees of the fire brigade were ready to participate in the operation on extinguishing the fire, but we organized the work in a way that the firefighters were able to replace one another in case of emergency. Each employee contributed to extinguishing the fire, and we are very pleased that our work was appreciated.”
The extinguishing was carried out in cooperation with the municipal fire departments of the province of Mersin and employees of the district forestry departments, who coordinated the actions of the firefighters and distributed areas of their responsibility. In addition to extinguishing the fire, the firefighters of AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC participated in the evacuation of the local people and animals.
The employees of the fire department of AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC are on duty around the clock to ensure fire safety at the Akkuyu NPP construction site. The fire safety service constantly monitors all the territory of the construction site and controls its compliance with the fire safety requirements.