Throughout the entire fire-hazardous period, SFE “Forests of Ukraine” continues to maintain fire reservoirs

Fire reservoirs must provide a reserve of water for extinguishing forest fires and, at a critical moment, help forest workers save vast areas. We constantly work to ensure they are properly maintained and meet all requirements.

At present, the enterprise’s forest areas contain more than 3,500 fire reservoirs. Among them, 1,500 are natural water bodies — rivers, lakes — and over 2,000 are artificial ones, such as ponds, canals, and specially created water facilities in places where they are needed.

What should a fire reservoir be equipped with?

A reservoir must have a convenient pier for water intake. Currently, 953 natural reservoirs and more than 1,600 artificial ones are equipped with piers. Work on their arrangement is ongoing. Just last month, forestries of the Tsentralnyi Forest Office equipped 10 fire reservoirs with piers. Another 28 reservoirs were improved in June–July by the Pivnichnyi Forest Office.

A fire reservoir must have sufficient depth so that the motor pump does not draw in silt. The effective water reserve in properly arranged reservoirs during the hottest summer periods should be at least 100 cubic meters. Forest protection services inspect their condition quarterly!

There must also be convenient access roads for water intake that can withstand the weight of firefighting equipment. The number of such access points depends on the area the reservoir serves.

It is mandatory to install a sign “Fire Reservoir” indicating its capacity.

An artificial fire reservoir must be watertight to prevent water loss. Foresters have equipped more than 70 artificial reservoirs with water storage tanks. About 30 reservoirs also have backup cisterns for water delivery.

Our forest fire brigades also constantly monitor the condition of access roads to reservoirs and forest management fire roads.