Statutory Regulation of Fire Unit Location in Ukraine

Purpose: A theoretical description of the statutory regulation of fire rescue unit location in the cities and towns in Ukraine. Introduction: The article presents the results of scientific findings of a group of scientists of the Ukrainian Civil Protection Research Institute headed by the author of this article, aimed at increasing the effectiveness of the response system to dangerous events (fires) in Ukraine. Methodology: Analytical, probabilistic-statistical, expert estimates, estimate-based methods for determining the average speed of fire engines based on statistical data, HIL simulation methods for determining the location of fire rescue units, by employing GIS technologies. Results: An analysis of the mechanisms of the state regulation, by means of regulatory and technical regulations, of the fire-response system is presented, namely: the locations of fire rescue departments and the main criteria used to determine the areas of departure (service areas) of fire rescue units within cities and towns in Ukraine and the world. Also considered are the characteristics of the existing approaches to the location of fire rescue departments and the determination of the boundaries of the area of departure of fire rescue units in Ukraine. The presented data indicate the order and results of research into the implementation of the criterion of time of arrival of the fire rescue unit to the place of call (time criterion) based on the determination of the average speed of regular fire vehicles, depending on the type of city/town, population and other criteria affecting the reliability of the estimate.The provisions of amended regulations resulting from the regulatory and technical acts of Ukraine on the location of fire rescue departments and areas of departure of fire rescue units were also analysed. The analysis also covers the principle of the mechanism introduced in Ukraine for establishing the location of the fire rescue departments and the deter-mination of the areas of departure of fire rescue units based on the time of arrival criterion