Konchaev Firefighting Equipment Collection

Categories / City Services/Fire Safety
Categories / Science. Education/Museums
KONCHAEV FIREFIGHTING EQUIPMENT COLLECTION. Established by the State Firefighting Service of the St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region Main Department of Internal Affairs (73 Bolshoy Avenue of Vasilievsky Island), opened on 29 June 1957; in 1988-95, it was called the Firefighting Equipment Centre, and in 1995 it was named after B.I. Konchaev (1904-1988), veteran of the Firefighters Engineering Service. The exhibition features models of firefighting equipment, including water pipes (hand pumps); a steam pump by the English firm Shand Mason, which was supplied to the fire brigade in 1863; two prototypes for the modern gas-mask, a Winkler fire-shawl and a Koenig breathing-apparatus; and models, including a horse-drawn firefighting cart, a fire-tower and a mechanical ladder. Documents, engravings and photos tell the story of the St. Petersburg Fire-Brigade (founded in 1803). Special sections of the exhibition are devoted to firefighting during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45, and to present-day fire prevention. The library holds over 4,000 books and magazines on the history of firefighting in Russia; the film collection contains over 300 items. The exhibition is housed in the Vasilievsky Fire Department building (1882-84, architect V.G. Shalamov). In 1995, a monument to firefighters, which had stood in the courtyard since 1983, was placed in front of the main entrance (sculptor D.K. Lazarev, architect V.V. Popov).

Reference: Музеи Санкт-Петербурга и Ленинградской области: Справ. СПб., 2002. С. 119-120.

A. D. Margolis. Konchaev Boris Ivanovich
Lazarev Levon Konstantinovich
Popov Vladimir Vasilievich
Shalamov Vladimir Grigorievich
Bolshoy Ave of Vasilievsky Island/Saint Petersburg, city, house 73
Музеи Санкт-Петербурга и Ленинградской области: Справ. СПб., 2002