Gheorghe Pohrib - Reorganization of Firefighter Units

Reorganization of Firefighter Units

The Romanian firefighter units were subordinated to the artillery regiments of the Romanian Army according to the provisions of Royal Decree No. 702 of 1874. In 1912, by Royal Decree No. 2222 of 1912 the “Inspectorate for Military Firefighters” (Inspectoratul Pompierilor Military) was created. Further reform was however stopped due to World War 1.

Gheorghe Pohrib, an artillery officer, who had been assigned to the firefighters battalion of Bucharest in 1907, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel (consequently colonel) and appointed inspector general of the firefighters in 1920. He had the responsibility of reorganizing the firefighter units and of unifying the structures in the newly gained provinces.

As a result of colonel Pohrib’s endeavours, by 1929 the Romanian firefighters included following units:

• The Firefighters Command (formally established on August 2, 1929)
• The School of Firefighting non-commissioned officers;
• A training center for the personnel and instructors of the military firefighters units as well as of the commanders of the volunteer firefighters units.
• Workshops for maintaining and repairing firefightign equipment and storage of intervention materials.
• Firefighter units located in 30 cities (companies and sections).

At the same time Gheorghe Pohrib established the “Romanian Firefighters Newsletter” (Buletinul Pompierilor Români) which is still published, at present under the name “Revista Pompierii Români”