Clubs and organisations
Civic association Babylon
Web: www.osbabylon.cz [›]
Clubs of Sports Union Sokol Babylon
- football club – chairman Milan Masek, Tel. home: +420 379 793 183
- tennis club – chairman Jan Kralovec, Tel. home: +420 379 793 495
- table-tennis club – chairman Jaroslav Hruby, Tel. home: +420 379 793 263
- football-tennis club – chairman Jan Dufek, Mob.: +420 603 145 144
- Czech Union of Recreational Sports (recreational sport, aerobics, volleyball) – chairwoman Dana Dufkova Mob.: +420 605 215 851
Voluntary Fire Brigade Babylon
Interactive chronicle of the voluntary fire brigade Babylon: http://sdhbabylon.wz.cz [›]
Wap site: http://freewap.cz/wap/sdhbabylon [›]
History
A small village situated in a beautiful mountain basin under Cerchov with two big lakes reflecting at its bottom and surrounded by beautiful forests. As early as the beginning of the 20th century it attracted visitors and later summer guests that came here to spend their holidays. It can be said that the tourism started as early as 1905 and the village only had 26 registered house numbers. In the following years the growth and expansion of the village was in good form. A new hotel "Praha" was built in 1928 and got registration number 52. And so the former small village grows with newly built family houses and villas. With such development come problems that need solving: for example a railway stop is opened, there is new electric lighting, a summer post-office service is introduced, the lake and surroundings of Babylon are landscaped.
Due to such development in the village one of the most important needs was to set-up a fire brigade, and so the mayor Mr.Josef Berousek was asked to resolve this task as soon as possible. So he arranged a public meeting in the Bohmann hotel on 7th of April 1930. The meeting was visited by a large number of people, representatives of the Domazlice district were also present, namely district mayor Vaclav Ebenstreit, district secretary Vaclav Hojda and district commander-in-chief Karel Hotzel. The village mayor presented the need of the fire brigade in the village very well. Also the representatives of the district welcomed the creation of the fire brigade. The meeting had a very good reception, which was evident from the fact that immediately the fire brigade had two founder members, 15 active members and 16 contributing members. So the first step towards the establishment of a voluntary fire brigade in Babylon was made. On the 3rd of May 1930 all members of the brigade took a fire-fighter vow and with that the fast development of the brigade continued. On the 21st of April 1930 the first annual meeting took place and during that the first officials were elected, namely chief Jiri Aulik, secretary Jan Svacina, treasurer Matous Svoboda, captain Frantisek Pitipac, deputy captain Josef Skarban, head of department Jan Kralovec, members of the board Josef Berousek, Frantisek Holstajn, Antonin Cerny, Ladislav Puta and accounts controllers Jindrich Hala, Josef Kruml and Michal Tauer.
First and foremost the brigade needed to buy a fire-engine, build a station house, obtain fire equipment and accessories. It was not an easy task as it was very financially challenging. Where the fire-engine was concerned, a number of companies sent their offers, but the best one seemed to be the one from ing. Ebert from Prague. So he was invited to a meeting on the 9th of November 1930, where he gave a lecture on fire-engines and it was decided on the same day to buy a two-wheel engine with a tow car for 70 000 Koruna. At the end of April 1931 the fire-engine together with the car was delivered. The car was taken by the council and it was rebuilt into a minibus. The village received a licence to use the car for trips with summer guests. The debt was supposed to be liquidated from the financial profit. Unfortunately that was not viable as the car often needed repairs and cost the council a large amount of money. It was sold in 1933. Both the council and the fire brigade had big financial difficulties. The situation was resolved in August with the savings bank where ing. Ebert kept his account. After housing the fire-engine there arose the need to build the station house so the Domazlice town council donated the plot opposite the small pond. On the 26th of July 1931 a celebration of handing over the fire-engine and the station house took place. By building the station house the first main tasks were accomplished and now what was needed was to acquire professional qualification, both practical and theoretic. For that reason Frantisek Pitipac, Skarban sen. and Josef Veber were sent to the Domazlice district school. The Samaritan movement training was attended by Jan Sastny, Josef Berousek and Josef Skarban jnr.. On 06.09.1932 they attended their first fire, when after 1 o'clock in the morning a fire began in no.23, Babylon, the house of Matej Forst. The reason for the fire was most probably a spark that entered the loft area where straw was stored.
The brigade was also engaged in the social events, when it annually organised the New Year's Eve Balls, during which it stepped into the new year with optimism and wishes of good fortune. Apart from that members of the brigade also took part in theatrical activities. So life, with its various pleasures and worries, went on until the year 1938. On the 24th of November 1938 our village was occupied by Germans and all the Unions were obliterated. The commitee stopped working, the meetings did not take place, there was no place for free decision making. It was a long six years and five months before we could, in May 1945, breath freely again. Amongst the council's first tasks was establishment of a new fire brigade. So on the 26th of August 1945 the chairman of the local people's committee Jan Kralovec called an establishment meeting of the fire brigade. At this meeting 23 active members and 22 contributing members enrolled. Election of temporary committee took place and elected were chief Mr.Vait, captain Jan Sastny, deputy captain Mr.Skarban snr., secretary Jan Svacina, treasurer Matous Svoboda and accounts controllers Mr. Bilek and Mr. Tuswald. The first annual meeting took place on the 12th of January 1946 in the Bohmann restaurant. The main point of the meeting was about the need to sort out the inventory, supply fire-hoses and other equipment and repair the station house. Financial resources for these were acquired from membership fees, organising social events and from funds from the people's committee. The fire-engine was in good condition after the war and the brigade acquired a Citroen car. At the annual meeting on 01.04.1951 the chief Jan Sastny explained the changes in organising the voluntary fire brigades. Also, an election took place and Frantisek Pitipac was elected as the new chief and Prokop Bilek as the new treasurer and chronicler. The rest of the committee stayed the same. In 1952 the station house was restored and the fire regulations for the village were established. During that year the brigade helped at the forest fire in Pisky. Also during this year the centres were changed and Babylon took charge of services for Ceska Kubice, Spalenec, Maxov and Pasecnice. Jan Sastny was named the instructor. More attention was given to fire prevention. Fire inspections took place. At the annual meeting on 13.02.1954 Mr.Prokop Bilek was elected the new chief and Josef Cerny jnr. the new treasurer, the rest stayed the same. New members joined, for example Mr. Vaclav Lang, Milos Hana, Jan Steinbach, Bedrich Berousek. On 30.07.1954 Jan Sastny resigned to become the chairman of the local people's committee. Josef Svoboda was elected the new captain and stayed on until 19.05.1956 when he resigned due to illness. Josef Cerny jun. got elected. This year the brigade started two children's teams and one junior women's team with Jakub Jisa as an instructor. Under his lead the teams scored a number of successes in both district and regional competitions. We should mention a region competition in Babylon in 1958, where the children got a golden plaque, three first places in a district competition in Spalenec in 1959, 2 golden plaques in regional competition in Pasecnice and fifth place in area competition in Plzen. We cannot forget that 22 children took an exam and got a young firefighter's badge.
On 18.12.1960 an annual meeting combined with the 30th anniversary of the brigade took place. The new committee was elected. Chief and captain stayed the same. Secretary Jan Sastny, organiser Bohumil Tuswald, prevention Mila Cerny, equipment Jan Vavrik, social Mr.Steibach, treasurer Mr.Bilek, driver Jaroslav Guren, mechanic Josef Svoboda. During the annual meeting in 1961 there was a lot of praise for the work with children, 30 young members. That year the brigade was given an honourable badge for its work. In 1964 a celebration of the 100th anniversary of fire prevention took place in Babylon for the whole region.
During the annual meeting on 07.11.1964 Jaroslav Guren was elected as the new captain in place of Mr. Cerny, the rest stayed the same. During the annual meeting in 1965 Jakub Jisa was elected as the new captain and Mr.Guren became the technical officer. The rest stayed the same.
In 1967 there was a new election and Jakub Jisa became the new chief, Josef Cerny the new captain, Antonin Dufek the prevention officer, the rest stayed the same. In 1970 there was only a little interest in the work with the youth and that showed in their activities. In 1971 the chief Jakub Jisa became ill and Mr.Malik was elected as his replacement. Also Mr.Frantisek Suda replaced the deceased Mr.Steibach. Next the captain Mr.Cerny resigned and Mr.Dufek took his place. That year the fire brigade attended an underground forest fire by the Certovo stone that ignited from an engine spark. On 28.04.1973 there was another forest fire by the Nozar bridge that also ignited from an engine spark. This fire was attended by the fire brigades from Babylon and Ceska Kubice and also by the army. On 15.09. a forest fire by the Cerny pond occured over a whole hectar. It was attended by fire brigades from Babylon and Domazlice. Our task was to keep refilling 2 water tanks.
In 1975 during the annual meeting an election took place and a new committee was elected. Miroslav Drozda became the chief, Antonin Dufek the captain, Frantisek Suda the social officer, Josef Bahnik the prevention officer, Frantisek Vosecky organisation officer, Jaroslav Malik the secretary, Jiri Duchek the treasurer, Vaclav Lang the youth officer, Jaroslav Guren the technical officer and Jaroslav Jirik the civil protection officer. In 1976 the brigade took part in a district competition which took place in Babylon and won it. Then they advanced to a regional competition in Bukovec and took 8th place amongst 20 teams. Apart from training for the competitions the brigade had to attend 13 forest fires that ignited from engine sparks.
During the annual meeting that happened place on 03.12.1977 a new election took place. Mr.Josef Bahnik became the new chief, taking over from Mr.Dufek who moved away, Mr.Josef Stauber became the new prevention officer, Karel Zrno became the new youth officer and Vaclav Lang became the new secretary.
After an eight-year break on 14.05. Mr.Zrno started up on a team of young firefighters, which 11 children joined, and so picked up from the good work of children under the care of Mr.Jakub Jisa.. This team took part in the "Flame" game every year and usually ended up in one of the front positions. In 1979 nine members earned the "Exemplary firefighter of the 3rd degree" badge. Also this year there were some changes in the competitions and fire sport was introduced. In April 1980 a fire ignited in the Cerchov hotel. The fire got localised by fire brigades from Domazlice, Babylon, Ceska Kubice, Spalenec and Folmava. The Babylon brigade carried out a 280m long water supply into a CAS 25 water cistern.
During the 1982 annual meeting Miroslav Zapletal got elected as the new secretary, Vaclav Lang the civil protection officer and Jaroslav Jirik the social officer. In 1983 Mr.Zrno resigned as the youth officer and one member earned the "Exemplary firefighter of the 1st degree" badge.
During the annual meeting on 08.12.1984 Mrs.Langova got elected as the secretary, Mr.Guren snr. the youth officer and Mr.Vaclav Lang the civil protection officer. Exemplary firefighter of III. and II. degree exams took place that year. 10 members earned the "Exemplary firefighter of the III.degree" and 4 got the II.degree badge. The PRAGA RN fire-engine got signed off due to unsatisfactory technical condition.
In 1986 Mr.Jaroslav Guren snr. resigned from his post due to lack of interest from the children.
In 1987 Mr.Polak became the secretary, Mr.Jirik deputy chief and Mr.Duchek social officer. In 1988 a new Skoda 1203 car became property of the fire brigade.
In 1990 a new 7-member committee got elected. Chief Vaclav Lang, captain Josef Bahnik, treasurer Karel Polak, secretary Miroslav Drozda, prevention officer Josef Stauber, technical officer Jaroslav Guren jnr., chronicler Zdenka Stauberova, chairman of the revision committee Antonin Dufek and members Jaroslav Jirik and Jaroslav Guren snr.. In 1991 Vaclav Lang and Josef Stauber left the committee. Mr.Bahnik became the chief, Antonin Dufek the captain, Jaroslav Guren snr. prevention officer, Jiri Duchek chairman of the revision committee and Miroslav Zapletal a committee member.
In 1994 during the annual meeting this committee got elected.
Chief Josef Bahnik, captain Jaroslav Guren, deputy captain Karel Izak, mechanic Pavel Mach, prevention officer Tomas Bahnik, secretary Miroslav Drozda, technical officer Gabriel Vondras, chairman of the revision committee Karel Polak and members Jiri Duchek and Josef Stauber.
On 12.01.1996 there was a fire in an attic of Mr.Navratil's house, no.48. The fire got localised by the professional fire brigade from Domazlice and the Babylon brigade. The fire started due to a cracked chimney.
On 30.03.1996 there was a constitutive meeting of the 2nd district. After a long discussion the 2nd district was established. It included Domazlice, Drazenov, Luzenice, Havlovice, Petrovice, Ujezd, Babylon, Ceska Kubice, Spalenec and Folmava.
During the annual meeting in 1996 Mr. Jirik was elected the deputy chief and Mr.Dufek the technical officer. The prevention officer Mr.T.Bahnik changed position and became the secretary. The chief took over the prevention.
On 02.02. a locotractor was on fire 400m from the train stop on the Domazlice line. The fire was put out by the professional Domazlice brigade, the Babylon brigade was held in reserve.
On 01.10.1999 the U Chrta kiosk was on fire. The localization was done by both professional and voluntary brigades from Domazlice and the Babylon brigade.
At the annual meeting on 22.01.2000 a new committee was elected. Chief J.Bahnik,deputy chief J.Duchek, captain J.Guren, mechanic P.Mach, prevention officer Z.Guren, secretary T.Bahnik, treasurer M.Drozda, youth officer D.Kavalir, technical officer A.Dufek. Chairman of the revision committee K.Polak, members J.Berousek and V.Lang. The council's captain and prevention officer were agreed Jaroslav Guren and Zbynek Guren.
The voluntary fire brigade activities
Our number one has to be the fire prevention. Every March we do fire checks and in the autumn second checks in buildings where there were problems. Fire checks are done in family houses and flats, in recreational buildings, summerhouses and small business premises. It can be said that the number of problems is decreasing, which is the actual essence of prevention. Apart from the checks we did radio broadcasting, talks with residents with demonstrations of putting out small fires with different types of extinguishers.
On a number of occasions members of the brigade had a chance to try out the theory they learned in the professional training. Since 1975 the professional training was carried out in the form of a training year. At the end of the year the members had to take a test to check their knowledge. Thematic drills took place, both local and district ones, where a long-distance water supply from one fire pump to another and to a chosen building according to the given scenario were performed. Since 1991 the professional training of the firefighters is carried out according to the regulated norms.
The next activities in this area are district competitions. The winner goes on to the regional competition. Between 1985 and 1990 we also had a women's team, which took 3rd place in the regional competition in Kdyne. After the new 2nd district was established the level of the district competition improved and anyone who wants to win or be placed needs to spend more time practicing.
On 20.05.2000 we took part in a long-distance water supply from engine to engine from Domazlice to Furth im Wald. This action was very successful.
In the social area we organise a traditional Fire Brigade ball. I would like to remember the 1981 ball that took place in the Cerchov hotel. It was re-named "Eskimo Ball" for it was unbelievably cold in the ballroom. The musicians played in their coats and most of the guests sat in the dining room. We also organised trips for both members and other residents, Christmas table tennis tournaments, bowling and minigolf tournaments, cross-country marches for parents and children and skiing competitions. Every year we take part in the organisation of the International children's day and the summer event "Babylon's Summer". We also give gift parcels to our members on their anniversaries.
Telephone numbers
Bahnik Tomas - secretary, Tel.: +420 379 793 285
Bahnik Josef - chief, Tel.: +420 379 793 071
Guren Jaroslav - captain, Tel.: +420 723 224 717
Guren Zbynek - prevention officer, Tel.: +420 606 147 181
Drozda Miroslav - treasurer, Tel.: +420 602 495 923
Tichacek Filip - deputy captain, Tel.: +420 602 142 988
Mach Pavel - mechanic, Tel.: +420 723 433 111