The Department of Emergency Situations (DSU), headed by Raed Arafat, accused the Romanian TV channel of disinformation and “continuing to spread falsehoods with the sole purpose of misleading the public” regarding the intervention of firefighters in the Ferma Dacilor fire. The DSU announces that it will inform the National Audiovisual Council of the “numerous errors” of the television station founded by Sebastian Gietz.

In a press release sent on Friday evening, the Emergency Management Office said that “Romanian TV journalists have continued a series of gross disinformation” in an attempt to once again discredit the image of the institution, given that DSU “constantly presented to public opinion an evolutionary intervention and verification” regarding the tragedy in the town of Tohani, and at a press conference on Friday, “journalists who asked questions received the necessary clarifications from representatives of the DSU and IGSU.”

“Although the representative of Romania Tv was present at the press conference, being the only one who received more answers, during the show “Special Edition” its moderator made several completely false and missing statements, smaller documentaries about some of the events with firefighters faced for a long time, the interventions of Clubul Colectiv, Crevedia and Ferma Dacilor were brought to the public’s attention, calling, we quote “Mistakes of firefighters in the tragedies that shook Romania”, accuses the institution under the leadership of Raed Arafat.

Explanation of DSU:

• “FALSE: The Special Edition show therefore presented information that the red intervention plan was activated late, both in the case of the Clubul Colectiv fire and in the case of the Ferma Dacilor fire. On this subject, we clearly state that attempts are being made by any means to discredit the efforts of the intervention teams by misleading the public that they did not follow the procedures in place.
• Therefore, the following explanations are necessary:
• Activation of the red plan is carried out in accordance with the provisions of Joint Order MS/MAI no. 1.163/203 of 2010, which stipulates that this procedural step is carried out at the request of the ISU Chief Inspector by the prefect of the district/prefect of the municipality of Bucharest where the event takes place, based on information received from:
• a) emergency dispatches using the single call number 112;
• b) the first intervention crews that arrived at the intervention site;
• c) monitoring systems connected to medical dispatchers, ISU dispatchers, police and gendarmerie dispatchers or other dispatchers who have a role in this area.
• The first medical or ambulance team that arrived at the scene of the intervention, depending on the severity of the events, makes a proposal for the activation of the Red intervention plan to the chief inspector of the GIP through the medical dispatcher or complex.
• Thus, in the case of the fire at Ferma Dacilor, the activation of the red plan was carried out on the basis of the information received from the first intervention teams that arrived after they requested information from the representatives of the commercial operator regarding the possibility that inside the building there are people who could not evacuate on their own. The intervention teams had no way of knowing the number of people in that building so they could determine how many people might be inside, so they could launch the red plan without waiting for additional information from those present at the scene, but deploying first-line medical teams . In this context, when intervention teams received information that eight people were missing, a red intervention plan was activated.
• In addition, the working procedures of ISU Prahova provide for the activation of the red plan in case of intervention in emergency situations involving at least 10 people. However, because the information received by the intervention teams was unreliable (eight people were missing), the decision was made to activate the red plan, even though it was NOT required according to procedures. In addition, the red plan calls for the addition of intervention forces, or in this case there were enough.
• Regarding the use of helicopters to extinguish the fire at Ferma Dacilor, we inform the journalists of Romanian TV that it could not be done for several reasons, among which we list:
• The roof of the building remained in place for a long time, and the release of a large amount of water from the helicopter could have caused it to collapse on the people who were inside and about whom nothing was known.
• When using helicopters to fight fires of this type, it is necessary for ground response teams to move away for protection, in which case search and rescue teams will make every effort to find people who are inside. Therefore, if helicopters were used to extinguish the fire, as the aforementioned journalists wanted, the rescue operation could no longer be carried out, in which case all efforts would be focused only on extinguishing the fire. Or our main goal is to preserve and protect life.
• FALSE: Regarding the information spread in the show, according to which we quote “They sent helicopters to Greece, but not for the Romanians”, which tries to mislead the public that Romania does not protect its citizens, but supports other states We clarify that Romania Tv has a serious error due to the fact that the DSU did not send helicopters to fight vegetation fires in Greece.
• WRONG: With regard to the information according to which no foam means of intervention were used during the intervention in Prahova County, we explain that according to the Manual on Fire Fighting Techniques and Tactics – ISU 04, for residential buildings, bridges and roofs it is recommended to use water, foam is recommended use for extinguishing fires in which solid fuel, cars, silos, oils, etc. are burning.
• FALSE: Finally, regarding the statement we quote again “How Arafat lied that there were no dead on the farm” at the same time as the release of the telephone recording in which the head of the DSU, Dr. Raed Arafat, offered the first information about the event to the mass media, we explain , that said recording was made before the first person was found dead, and the official did not for one second say that no one was dead, but until the moment when it was revealed that during the telephone conversation, the task forces did not find any dead, moreover , during the same telephone intervention, the head of the DSU stated that there is information according to which there are people inside who were surprised.”

The DSU announces that it will inform the National Audiovisual Council of the “numerous lapses” of the television station founded by Sebastian Gietz, in order to “take the necessary measures in such cases”.

It will be recalled that on Tuesday, in the fire that engulfed a guest house in the village of Tokhani, Prahova district, seven people died – three children and four adults, and the eighth victim is still being sought. The boarding house operated for a decade without permits for construction, fire safety and residence.

The tourist complex Ferma Dacilor operated for decades without the necessary approvals. According to the Tohani Tourist Complex’s official website, the foundations of the business were laid in 2013, which was also confirmed by Cornel Diniku, an entrepreneur who identifies himself as the owner of the business, even though he is not listed in the documents of the company that controls the guesthouse.

The management of the Department of Emergency Situations presented on Friday the first conclusions after the inspection carried out after the tragedy at Ferma Dacilor, an inspection which revealed serious irregularities at the ISU Prahova.

• VIDEO The first conclusions after the tragedy at Ferma Dacilor. Arafat: The fire alarm did not go off. The location had to be closed during the ISU 2019 inspection/ Inspections were conducted in accordance with the interests of the ISU Deputy

The fire alarm center at Ferma Dacilor was not working, and according to an inspection carried out by the Prahova Emergency Situations Inspectorate in 2019, the boarding house should have been closed, State Secretary Raed Arafat said on Friday. Another conclusion of the control is that the first deputy head of the ISU Prahova, who controlled the boarding house, although he had no duties, changes control plans in accordance with his own interests.