"Many times dangerous situations arise when heating with stoves, the last time we had a fire here was in December, one hut burned down. Before that, in April, when four of our huts burned down. Fortunately, it was without health consequences. We deal with such cases operatively, we try to help families, whether with building materials, food, clothing, or hygiene aids," said the mayor of Veľká Ida, Peter Nagy.

We learn that the most common cause of fires is a poorly adapted chimney body touching flammable material. In one case, the lady in the apartment covered the ceiling with polystyrene to keep her warmer, but it immediately caught fire from the chimney. At the end of the meeting, the residents received solid lighters to safely start a fire and several fire extinguishers.

The mayor of the village also explained the plans for housing for the marginalized community: "We are planning the construction of 186 social apartments, each of which will have a water supply, electricity, and its own bathroom. We want to slowly lead them to increase their standard of living. There will be a housing assistant in each complex, who will help tenants with housing, everyday life, safety, and at the same time will supervise that tenants take care of the apartments."

Fire technician Filip Šamaj has experience with training in a similar environment. He led the same training in Luník IX for the inhabitants of the illegal settlement of Mašličkovo, where interpretation into the Roma language was also provided. The Luník IX district was led to firefighting activities by a recent tragic event, when two small children lost their lives in a fire. The municipality distributed fire blankets to the residents of Mašličkovo and placed fire extinguishers in the settlement. These activities were also supported by our company.

"Health protection is one of the priorities of U. S. Steel Košice and we appreciate that it has decided to help and contribute to preventing tragedies such as those we have experienced recently. Thank you for your help," said the mayor of Luník IX, Marcel Šaňa.
 

Photo: František Gregor / MČ Luník IX