Ahead of Easter, rescuers reiterate the fire safety rules when lighting candles and other sources of open fire in churches and at home. Candles must be placed in specially designated places, on anti-retardant fabrics and should not be left burning unsupervised. The rescuers and firefighters urge the clergy not to allow crowdedness in churches and to ensure evacuation ways in risk situations, IPN reports.

“It is very good to assume responsibility, to respect the fire safety rules, especially if we talk about the access ways for special intervention vehicles. In addition, escape routes for persons must be kept clear. All the more, we are also talking about the locating of candles in particular places so that they do not pose a danger,” press officer of the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations Liliana Puşcaşu stated in the launch of the campaign to prevent fires and risk situations during the Easter holidays, the start of which was given on Friday inside the Church of Saint Seraphim de Sarov in Chisinau, IPN reports.

The Inspectorate’s employees will go to all churches in the country to warn and recommend both parishioners and church representatives to comply with the fire safety rules. So far, about 1,000 places of worship have been visited and discussions have been held with over 3,000 persons in charge.



Bishop of Saint Seraphim de Sarov Church, Veaceslav Burlescu, said that the church is ready for the holidays and expressed his hope that the parishioners who come to the church will be responsible. The parishioners are always warned to be careful with fire, to take care of each other, not to block the church gate with personal cars. Even if many Christians come on the evening of the Resurrection, they are cautiously organized and there is no crowding in the church. People arrange themselves outside, from where the service can also be heard. “We ask the Christians on Easter night to be careful with fire, candles also in the houses where they leave the candle lit so that we can have a nice holiday without incidents,” said the priest.

In order to prevent fires, the overload of electrical circuits by connecting more consumers than required for the given installation should be avoided. Stoves and chimneys must be checked and operated according to the safety rules. The General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations underlines the need to outfit the churches with safety equipment and to ventilate the rooms. In the event of an exceptional situation, escape routes must be ensured. Rescuers also warn the people against parking chaotically near places of worship.



In the last four years, 29 fires occurred in places of worship, nine of which during the Easter holidays. The reckless use of open fire is one of the most common causes of fires.