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SDH BABYLON
In addition to protecting fellow citizens from natural elements, our firefighters also participate in competitions and organize cultural activities for the entire municipality - children's masquerade carnivals, children's days, maypole building, lantern parades, New Year's Eve walks, they also organize metal waste collections, etc. Without the firefighters and their technical and physical support, many other events organized by the municipality itself would not be possible, such as the lighting of the Christmas tree or the Summer of Babylon.
As of December 31, 2023, the Babylon Volunteer Fire Department had 52 members, of whom 18 were women and 34 were men.
History of the Babylon Municipality Fire Department
During the First Republic, along with the growing tourism, there was a need to develop the infrastructure of the village: a railway stop was built, electric lighting in the village, a summer post office, the area around the swimming pool was improved, and another need was to establish a fire department. Josef Beroušek, the then mayor of the village, convened a public meeting at the Bohmann Hotel on March 7, 1930. During the meeting, two founding members, fifteen active members, and sixteen contributing members immediately signed up for the newly formed department. On May 3, 1930, all members took the firefighter's oath. On April 21, 1930, the first annual meeting was held, and Jiří Aulík was elected mayor, Jan Svačina as executive director, Matouš Svoboda as treasurer, František Pitipáč as commander, Josef Škarban as deputy commander, and Jan Královec as department chief. The members of the committee were: Josef Beroušek, František Holštajn, Antonín Černý, Ladislav Půta and auditors Jindřich Hála, Josef Kruml and Michal Tauer.
The difficult task of building and equipping the fire station followed. On November 9, 1930, it was decided at the meeting to purchase a motor-driven fire engine from Ing. Ebert for CZK 70,000. At the end of April 1931, the fire engine was delivered with a car. To store the fire engine, it was necessary to build a fire station, so the city of Domažlice donated land opposite the pond. On July 26, 1931, a ceremony was held to mark the handover of the motor-driven fire engine and the fire station.
Another task of the fire department was to obtain professional qualifications, for this purpose František Pitipáč, Škarban senior and Josef Veber were sent to the county school in Domažlice. The Samaritan movement was attended by Jan Šťastný, Josef Beroušek, Josef Škarban jr. The first fire brigade response was on 6 September 1932, when a fire broke out in Matěj Forst's house at No. 23 in Babylon after one o'clock in the morning. The cause of the fire was probably a spark that entered the attic and then into the stored straw. The brigade also organized a New Year's Eve ball and activities.
On 24 November 1938, our village was occupied by the Germans and the association's activities were suspended for another six years and five months. It was not until 26 August 1945 that the chairman of the local national committee, Jan Královec, called an inaugural meeting of the fire brigade, during which 23 active members and 22 contributing members registered. In the provisional committee, Vait was elected mayor, Jan Šťastný was elected commander, Škarban senior was elected deputy commander, Jan Svačina was elected executive, Matouš Svoboda was elected treasurer, and Bílek and Tuswald were elected auditors. The first annual meeting was held on January 12, 1946. It was necessary to put the inventory in order and replenish the equipment. The corps obtained financial resources for these purposes from membership fees, organizing entertainments, and from the allocation of the Local National Committee. After the occupation, the ambulance was in good technical condition and the corps acquired a Citroen car to go with the ambulance.
On April 1, 1951, elections were held and František Pitipáč was elected chairman of the local fire brigade, Prokop Bílek was elected treasurer and registrar, the other positions remained unchanged. In 1952, the fire station was repaired and the village fire regulations were established. In that year, the brigade intervened in a forest fire in Písky. Since 1953, more attention has been paid to prevention. Fire inspections were carried out.
At the annual meeting held on February 13, 1954, Prokop Bílek was elected chairman of the local unit, Josef Černý Jr. took over the position of treasurer, the other positions remained unchanged. New members were accepted into the brigade: Václav Lang, Miloš Hána, Jan Steinbach, Bedřich Beroušek. On July 30, 1954, Jan Šťastný, who was elected chairman of the local national committee, resigned from his position. Josef Svoboda was elected commander, who held the position until May 19, 1956, when he resigned due to illness. Josef Černý Jr. was elected commander. This year, two teams of students and one team of teenagers were involved in the activities of the local unit, led by Jakub Jíša. Under his leadership, these teams achieved many successes in both district and regional competitions. The district competition in Babylon in 1958 is worth mentioning, where the children were awarded a gold plaque, three first places at the district competition in Spálenc in 1959, two gold plaques at the district competition in Pasečnica and fifth place in the regional competition in Pilsen. It should not be forgotten that 22 children passed the exam and thus received the "young firefighter" badge.
On December 18, 1960, an annual membership meeting was held in connection with the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the corps. The election to the new committee was made, the new executive was Jan Šťastný, organizational matters - Bohumil Tuswald, prevention - Černý Míla, material and technical officer - Jan Vavřík, cultural matters - Steibach, manager - Bílek, car driver - Jaroslav Gureň, machinist - Josef Svoboda, other positions remained unchanged. In 1961, the activities of the youth in the number of thirty children were positively evaluated at the annual meeting. In this year, the local unit was rewarded with an honorary badge for merit. In 1964, the celebration of the 100th anniversary of fire protection was held, which took place in Babylon within the framework of the district committee.
On November 7, 1964, elections were held at the annual meeting, where the commander was changed. Jaroslav Gureň was elected instead of Mr. Černý, the other positions did not change.
At the annual meeting in 1965, elections were held, a new commander - Jakub Jíša was elected, and Gureň was newly appointed as the material and technical officer.
In 1967, elections were held, and Jakub Jíša was elected as the chairman, Josef Černý as the commander, Antonín Dufek as the prevention officer, the other positions remained unchanged. In 1970, there was little interest in working with youth, and this was generally reflected in their activities.
In 1971, the committee was supplemented by Malík, who was elected chairman, for the sick chairman Jakub Jíša. There was also a change for the deceased Steibach, who was replaced by František Suda. Furthermore, Černý resigned from the position of commander, who was replaced by Dufek. In this year, the corps intervened in an underground forest fire near Čertova kamen, which was caused by a spark from a locomotive. On April 28, 1973, another forest fire occurred near Nozarova most, which was caused by a spark from a locomotive. The Babylon corps, Č. Kubice and OPK soldiers intervened in this localization. On September 15, a forest fire broke out near Černý rybník, covering an area of 1 ha. The Babylon and Domažlice corps intervened. The task of the Babylon corps was to supply water to two cisterns. In 1975, during the annual meeting, elections were held for a new committee: chairman - Drozda Miroslav, commander - Antonín Dufek, cultural officer - František Suda, prevention officer - Josef Bahník, organizational affairs - František Vosecký, executive - Jaroslav Malík, economist - Jiří Duchek, youth officer - Václav Lang, material and technical officer - Jaroslav Gureň, CO tenderer - Jiřík Jaroslav.
In 1976, the choir participated in the district competition held in Babylon, where it took first place and advanced to the district competition held in Bukovec, where it took eighth place out of twenty teams. In addition to the competition exercises, it went to thirteen forest fires that were caused by sparks from locomotives.
During the annual meeting held on December 3, 1977, elections were held for a new committee, where the choir commander was changed. In place of Dufek, who moved away, Josef Bahník was elected commander, Josef Stauber was elected prevention officer, Karel Zrno was elected youth officer, and Václav Lang was elected executive officer. After an eight-year break, Mr. Zrno re-established a team of young firefighters with 11 members, which continued the successes of young firefighters under the leadership of Jakub Jíša. This team participated in the Plamen game every year, where it usually placed in the top places.
In 1979, nine members received the badge of exemplary firefighter of the third degree. At the same time, this year there was a change in competitions, where they switched to fire sports.
In April 1980, a fire broke out in the Čerchov hotel. The fire was localized by the DVPS Domažlice, Babylon, Česká Kubice, Spálenec and Folmava. The Babylon fire department transported water to CAS 25 over a length of 280 m.
At the annual meeting in 1982, Miroslav Zapletal was elected executive, Václav Lang was elected CO representative, and Jiřík Jaroslav was elected cultural representative.
In 1983, Mr. Zrno resigned from the position of youth representative, and at the same time, one member received the badge of exemplary firefighter of the 1st degree.
On December 8, 1984, the annual meeting was held, Mrs. Langová was elected to the position of executive director, Jaroslav Gureň, Sr. was elected as the youth officer and Václav Lang as the CO officer. At the same time, the III. and II. class exemplary firefighter exams were held this year. Ten members received the VP III. class badge and four members of the corps received the II. class. The PRAGA RN was canceled due to its unsatisfactory technical condition.
In 1986, the youth officer Jaroslav Gureň, Sr. resigned due to the lack of interest of the children.
In 1987, there was a change in the committee, where Mr. Polák held the position of the manager, Mr. Jiřík the vice-chairman and Duchek the cultural officer.
In 1988, the corps was assigned a Škoda 1203 fire truck.
In 1990, a seven-member committee was elected at the general meeting, consisting of: chairman - Václav Lang, commander - Josef Bahník, manager - Karel Polák, executive - Miroslav Drozda, prevention officer - Josef Stauber, material and technical officer - Jaroslav Gureň Jr., chronicler - Zdeňka Stauberová, chairman of the audit committee - Antonín Dufek, other members Jaroslav Jiřík and Jaroslav Gureň Sr.
In 1991, Václav Lang and Josef Stauber left the committee. Bahník was elected mayor, commander - Antonín Dufek and prevention officer - Jaroslav Gureň Sr., chairman of the audit committee - Jiří Duchek and member of the audit committee - Miroslav Zapletal. In 1994, at the annual general meeting, a committee was elected with the following composition: mayor – Josef Bahník, commander – Jaroslav Gureň, deputy commander – Karel Izák, engineer – Pavel Mach, prevention officer – Tomáš Bahník, executive – Miroslav Drozda, material and technical officer – Gabriel Vondraš, chairman of the control and revision commission – Karel Polák, other members Jiří Duchek and Josef Stauber.
On 12 January 1996, a fire broke out in a family house at No. 48, in which the attic was on fire. The fire was localized by the Domažlice Fire Department and the Babylon Fire Department. The fire originated from a damaged chimney.
On 30 March 1996, the founding meeting of District No. 2 was held in Újezd. After a long discussion between the individual representatives of the Fire Department, District No. 2 was established. The district consists of SDH Domažlice, Draženov, Luženice, Havlovice, Petrovice, Újezd, Babylon, Č. Kubice, Spálenec and Folmava. At the annual general meeting in the same year, the committee was supplemented by Jiřík, who was elected deputy mayor and Dufek - material and technical officer. Tomáš Bahník became the executive director. The prevention department was taken over by the mayor. On February 2, a fire broke out in a locomotive tractor 400m from the railway stop in the direction of Domažlice. The fire was localized by the Domažlice Fire Department. The Babylon SDH was left in reserve. On October 1, 1999, a fire broke out in a sales stand at Chrta. The fire was localized by the Domažlice Fire Department, the Domažlice Fire Department and the Babylon SDH.
At the annual general meeting on January 22, 2000, a new committee was elected: mayor - Josef Bahník, deputy mayor - Jiří Duchek, commander - Jaroslav Gureň, machinist - Pavel Mach, prevention officer - Zbyněk Gureň, executive - Tomáš Bahník, economist - Miroslav Drozda, youth leader - D. Kavalír, material and technical officer - A. Dufek, chairman of the KRR - Karel Polák, members of the KRR - J. Beroušek and V. Lang, Jaroslav Gureň and Zbyněk Gureň were approved by the municipal council as commander and prevention officer of the OÚ.
Activity
The area of prevention was ranked first in the SDH's activities. In March, fire inspections were mainly carried out, and in the autumn, inspections were carried out in buildings where fire defects were detected. Fire inspections were carried out in residential households, buildings used for recreational purposes, cottages and small businesses. The number of defects gradually decreased. In addition to fire inspections, radio programs were conducted, discussions were held with citizens with practical demonstrations of extinguishing small fires using individual fire extinguishing agents.
In the area of repression, members of the intervention unit were able to try out the theory they had acquired through professional training in practice. Since 1975, professional training has been carried out in the form of a training year. At the end of the year, knowledge was always verified in the form of a test. Thematic exercises were carried out, both locally and in the district, where long-distance water transport from a stand to a machine to marked objects was carried out according to a prepared topic. Since 1991, the professional training of emergency units has been carried out in accordance with knowledge standards.
Other activities in this area include competitions organized within the district. The winning team advanced to the district round. In the years 1985-90, a women's team also competed, placing third at the district competition in Kdyň. After the reorganization of district No. 2, the level of district competitions improved.
On May 20, 2000, the corps participated in the long-distance transport of water from machine to machine from Domažlice (square) to Furt in Wald. After the overall preparation, this event can be assessed as very successful.
In the field of cultural activities, the corps organized a traditional firefighter's ball every year. In 1981, it was so cold in the hall that the ball was nicknamed "Eskimo," the band had to play in coats, and most of the participants sat in the dining room. Furthermore, trips were organized for members and citizens, Christmas table tennis tournaments, bowling and minigolf tournaments, marches of parents with children and ski races. It was also a tradition to help organize Children's Day and Babylon Summer, and to wish jubilarians and firefighters at their log cabins.
