One of the readers sent in the results of an amusing experiment. Google Maps. The European part of Russia. Search query: "fire station".
(I’ll add that the query "EMERCOM" (Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations) produces the same result) Google Maps. California. Search query: "fire department".
Obviously, this can’t really serve as a proper method of research or comparison. Obviously, it’s a matter of the search algorithm, the availability of online data, the degree of digitization in the country, and so on. But it still looks striking. A real statistical comparison looks grim too. Here is Latynina’s widely discussed article on the subject. It seems to me that one of the major political consequences of all these fires is the final collapse of the image of the Man from Kemerovo. Kuzhugetych. The one who would silently come in and fix everything. With his super-rescuers.
(image from LiveJournal golishev ) It all started out wonderfully... back in 1992. Now EMERCOM has finally degenerated into one of the most corrupt and helpless institutions around. *His wife, Irina Aleksandrovna Shoigu, is the president of Expo-EM, a company involved in business tourism (with Russia’s EMERCOM among its main clients) His daughter Yulia (born 1977), a Candidate of Psychological Sciences, as of September 2008 was director of the EMERCOM Center for Emergency Psychological Assistance (since 2002) His sister, Larisa, is a deputy of the 5th State Duma from the United Russia party. ////// People make money there from equipment procurement, approvals during construction, redevelopment, and so on, as well as certification and inspections. They couldn’t care less about anything else. And of course we all remember the story of the famous rescuer Ganeev — one of S.K. Shoigu’s closest associates. Clearly, EMERCOM does have one strong area: dealing with the aftermath of isolated disasters. The “flying hospital,” that sort of thing. Truly qualified rescuers and doctors arrive at the scene quickly and perform well. But when it comes to systematic work, it has all come to nothing. Where are the colorful images from the “situation centers”? You can’t see them through the smoke. The fires now are certainly extraordinary, but no one can honestly say that “nobody expected a fire.” Ask any businessman about the fire inspectors. He’ll roll his eyes and talk for hours about how these insatiable ghouls circle around him. They beg for money, demand that “fire evacuation plans” be prepared by special “authorized” firms. Such a plan for a small business can cost up to 100,000 rubles. And so on. Well-known facts. EMERCOM’s leadership are among the richest and most influential people around. I’m practically certain that nowhere else in the world is there another Chief Firefighter or Chief Rescuer who gets around in such a splendid armored vehicle:
And then of course there are the generals. In this, Kuzhugetych has no equal. EMERCOM includes Army General Shoigu and 122 lower-ranking generals (9 colonel generals, 33 lieutenant generals, 76 major generals, and 4 rear admirals). Based on the size of the organization, there are 159 service members for every EMERCOM general. For comparison: in the Russian army, there are 1,100 service members per general; in the U.S. army, 1,204 per general. ///////// Update. Here’s more about Kuzhugetych. An amusing fact: EMERCOM’s psychological service was founded in the same year his daughter graduated from the university’s psychology department. That’s what they call “working with young specialists.”