Fire safety of military-technical cargo in the Far Eastern ports of the Russian empire during the World War I

Based on archival materials, the article reviews a set of measures aimed at ensuring fire safety of the Far Eastern ports of the Russian Empire. When the World War I begins, Vladivostok and Nikolayevsk-on-Amur have become the most important receiving and processing points for foreign cargo delivered by the allies within military-technical cooperation. Foreign deliveries of weapons and ammunition have become a way to eliminate the “armament crisis” in the Russian army, and production equipment supplies have been a major factor in the development of the military industry. Therefore, one of the main tasks of the port administration was not only the rapid processing of strategic raw materials and property from abroad but also ensuring their fire safety. To that end, there have been taken the preventive measures in the field of fire safety in Vladivostok and Nikolayevsk-on-Amur. These measures focused on the acquisition and improvement of the fire fighting equipment and the formation of professional fire crew in the abovementioned cities. During the war, the Far Eastern ports were equipped with modern fire fighting facilities. It was created a specialized fire unit in Vladivostok that protected both military-technical cargo and port from fire.