The governor of the Ulianovsk Region S.Morozov sent a letter of gratitude to the address of OAO “Ulianovskneft”. The head of the region thanked the oilmen for their help in fire-fighting.

Anchorman. At the present moment the subject of forest fires has, thanks God, lost it acuteness. Today I’d like to tell you about the people, who localized  in proper time the forest fires in our region and  practically prevented them from damaging the houses of villagers.
The company “Ulianovskneft” was immensely helpful at fire fighting. It is a producing subsidiary of the oil company “RussNeft” which produces hydrocarbon stock at the territory of the Ulianovsk region.
This July a fire broke in Melekessky district, not far from Vishenki village. The quickly spreading fire threatened settlements and transformer substation which proved to be within the fire zone.
The oilmen of Ulianovsk were the first to come to help. During five days the fire-fighting squad of the company and some of the employees tried to oppose the flames. The fire was extinguished.
The head of Melekessky district Vladimir Tigin sent a Letter of gratitude to the address of OAO “Ulianovskneft”.Eleven employees of Oil and Gas Production Department “Severnoye were awarded commendations. Besides, the driver Vladimir Ulusov, a member of the fire-fighting squad of OAO “Ulianovskneft” received a special gratitude from the Governor as  the most meritorious fire-fighter.
Two monthes after the fire  in the Melekessky district at the night from 18 to 19 September there broke out a fire at the territory of Novospassky region. In spite of the fact that the flames were several km far from the facilities of “Ulianovskneft”, the company’ security service immediately reacted to the emergency and during the whole night the fire-fighting squad of Oil and Gas Production Department “Yuzhnoye” was fighting the flames near the villages Svirino and Monastyrsky Sungur. The anti-fire activity was controlled by the Head of Novospassky fire-fighting garrison, Colonel of Emergency Service  Sergey Izmailov. We connected Sergei Nikolayevich by phone to find out how hard the fire was, and how the people behaved in emergency. 

S.N.Izmailov: On September 18 at about 1:30 p.m. there came a report about a fire in the vicinity of the village of Svirino and fire team No 27 was immediately sent there; a bit later additional groups were urgently set. 
The point was that heavy wind (up to 20 m\sec) did not permit immediate localization and liquidation of the fire, that is why it has enough time to develop and, as the result, we had to fight it five days.
The employees of Ulianovskneft displayed wonderful courage and imperishability, they didn’t let the fire to approach their plant, no one had left his position. I’d like to thank cordially the employees of this company for its work – saving the property, the forest, the settlements, including Svirino, Novospasskoye,  Rokotushka, Monsungur, Troitsky Sungur.
For their courage, heroism and selflessness the employees of OAO “Ulianovskneft”: Antilov Aleksandr, Babin Sergei, Kuznetsov Alleksandr, Kupriyanov Aleksandr Poliakov Andrey will be awarded the medals of the Ministry of Emergencies “For liquidation of the consequences of an emergency” and “For courage at fire”.

Anchorman. Today we are speaking about caring, courageous people. It is thanks to them that the fires in our region didn’t turn out to be real catastrophe, to reach the level of destruction  suffered by other Russian regions this summer. Special gratitude – to the employees of OAO “Ulianovskneft”, who had fighting the flames during five  days (from September 18 to 22 ) at the territory of Novospassky district and didn’t let the fire to damage the villagers’ houses. Now we connect the Head of Oil and Gas Production Department “Yuzhnoye” Igor Khafizov.

I.A.Khafizov: The main thing revealed by the emergence was the strength and solidarity of the team of “Ulianovskneft”. The fires in Novospassky district were really large-scaled and serious. The people here have never seen such fires. Fire teams, helicopters and airplanes  from the whole region were sent here (on the request of the Ministry of Emergencies). These facts can confirm that the situation was very dangerous.
Here at the plant we set up a headquarters for rescue works, headed by the General Director of “Ulianovskneft”  Sergei Vladimirovich Koroliov, who came back from vacation. The rescue team numbered more than 40 people, it was equipped with heavy-duty machinery, a specialized fire team consisting of three fire squads was attracted to the work. These were the forces used for our common rescue works.
One must point out that oil production is a continuous cycle, and during all this time our facilities functioned in the usual mode, no technological slips occurred. Each worker having done his everyday work went to the rescue team and worked there. In spite of the fact that the flames were very close (about 300 meters) from our facilities  - oil treatment unit, the store of explosives,  we managed not to let it penetrate to the facilities, we brought it aside.
We coordinated our work with the headquarters of the Ministry to Emergencies, the administration of the district helped us immensely: they gave us khapsacks for extinguishing – a very efficient  thing, it was a great help. We overcame the flames. It is very important, that no houses were damaged in Novospassky district, no people suffered.
Anchorman. I have only to add that the governor of the Ulianovsk region S/I/Morozov sent to the address of OAO “Ulianovskneft” a Letter of gratitude “For active participation in fighting forest fires at the territory of Novospassky District”.