MOSCOW, October 29. /TASS/. Fire safety and firefighting experts disagree with the court’s verdict concerning firefighters Sergei Genin and Andrei Bursin over the deadly blaze that engulfed a Kemerovo shopping mall.
"Legitimacy of the sentence is a legal category, and higher courts will evaluate it. But the sentence should also be just, since the court evaluates the evidence taking into account the remorse - a category introduced in the law. Based on these two categories, I believe that this sentence is unjust," Professor of the Department of Supervisory Activities at the Academy of State Fire Service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia Sergey Nazarov reported on Friday.
The professor, who took part in the trial, specified that in the expert conclusion for the court there is no answer to the question of whether Genin and Bursin could have saved 37 people who were in the cinema. He recalled that Genin had no physical capabilities to pull the others out of the burning building. "Genin arrived at 16:12, and by 16:10 no one could be saved," Nazarov added.
Even if firefighters had the time to rescue people, significant resources would be required. "As for the commander of the firefighting service (Andrei Bursin - TASS), he is accused of not organizing intelligence. In order to save 60 people, 80 units of the gas rescue service are needed. 20 of them were in reserve, so that if something happens, it could be possible to direct forces to save them. Even if a unit is reduced to two persons - that is 160 people, and the rescue should be simultaneous, because the people are in a smoky room without any protective equipment. The Kemerovo garrison did not have such a force," the expert stressed.
Nazarov believes that such a severe sentence will negatively affect the work of firefighters, who will now be afraid of getting a prison sentence for taking the correct action. His opinion is also supported by Head of the Fire Safety Department, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Alexander Podgrushny, who has worked in the firefighting service for 20 years. They are already afraid to go and extinguish fires. They also operate under conditions of uncertainty. And what could this unfortunate guard do (in Kemerovo - TASS), now he is being sentenced for it. They would not be able to fulfill this task, to save 37 children," he added. Podhrushny also called the verdict unfair and stressed that he felt offended for the firefighting service.