Is there any other future issue you'd like to bring up?

"One problem that we're on our way to solving is the support team for the rescue of Swedish residents abroad, which previously had unclear guidelines. I think the proposals that the commission has drawn up are good, suggesting that in exceptional emergency situations involving many Swedish residents, the government should evacuate them."

An active agency with a focus on results

"We didn't want to be a distant, hands-off agency that didn't know how day-to-day operations worked.

WHEN THE SRSA was founded in 1986, its vision was clear: to become an agency that was firmly anchored in local fire and rescue brigades. An organisation that was about action and that delivered results. The way was paved by the first Director General, Lennart Myhlback.

"We didn't want to be a dis­tant, hands-off agency that didn't know how day-to-day operations worked. We wanted the fire serv­ice to play an important part, and the international work, where we used firefighters and fire brigade sub-officers, was a way of reaching that goal," he explains.

Lennart Myhlback enjoys tell­ing the story of the early years of the SRSA. As in any organisation, certain areas of work had to be prioritised, and one of the deci­sions made at the beginning was not to conduct international work. At least not until the agency had built up enough skills and experi­ence.

LENNART MYHLBACK TOOK UP the position of Director General after almost 20 years working for the government. He came from a po­sition as Secretary of State at the Ministry ofJustice. After many years of commuting between Uppsala and Stockholm, the chance to return to the Viirmland region was much appreciated.

IN DECEMBER 1988, there was a major earthquake in Armenia, and for the first time the Soviet Union requested international assistance in the aftermath of a disaster.

"On that very day we were at a conference for the SRSA manag­ers, and around lunchtime I got a call from the government, ask­ing if there was any assistance we could offer. I called some of the managers together and we came to the conclusion that we had plenty to offer - equipment from the civil defence stores, rescue dogs trained to search through rubble, and ded­icated firefighters," recalls Lennart Myhlback.

"Around 3 or 4 that afternoon I was able to explain to the govern­ment exactly what we had to offer, and between 8 and 9 that evening we got the green light to carry out an operation."

LENNART MYHLBACK LED parts of the operation himself. Equipment was gathered from stores, and passports and vaccinations were organised at record speed.

"I knew that we had highly skilled personnel who would be able to get the job done, and that they were aware of safety issues. This operation garnered a lot of at­tention in Sweden at the time, and afterwards the evaluation showed that it had gone extremely well. After that, it wasn't long before the other superpower, the USA, needed assistance when the Exxon Valdes oil tanker ran aground off the Alaskan coast. So the SRSA and the Swedish Coast Guard flew over some equipment and an instructor."

DURING THE GULF WAR in the ear­ly 1990S, many Kurdish people left their homes and took refuge in the mountains. The SRSA sent equip­ment, built camps and organised water and transportation for them.

"After that operation I had a lunch at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and I got talking to the UN Refugee Chief for Europe. She had observed that we had done a good job with the inter­nally displaced persons in Turkey, and asked if we would be able to transport food and supplies in Croatia and Serbia. 'Sure we can,' 1 replied, thinking that if our work had been successful in the mountains of Turkey then surely we could manage the same thing in Europe."

Soon after, the government gave the SRSA the go ahead for operations in the former Yugosla­via. Initially, the purpose of the operation was to transport supplies in Croatia and Serbia, but the con­ditions quickly changed.

"An air bridge had been es­tablished between Zagreb and Sarajevo, and it was our job to drive supplies from the airport in Sarajevo to their destination. We took twelve vehicles down there, and for the sake of safety we only sent six at a time into the city. I joined the convoy on one occasion. It was quite an experience to work with gunfire all around, but if we were going to send people out on a mission like that, I wanted to see the situation for myself"

"At the same time, we also provided support to the fire and rescue services in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. We also helped construct refugee camps and water purification systems in Rwanda. We managed all of this with a very small central organisation, and it was made possible through the support of the Swedish fire service," emphasises Lennart Myhlback.

ALTHOUGH MANY international operations have garnered a great deal of attention, Lennart Myhl­back stresses that their work makes up just a small proportion of the total work of the SRSA.

"The SRSA was created for Sweden. It would have been easy to get sidetracked by the interna­tional work, but it was important to ensure this didn't happen."

As well as generating support for the SRSA among local fire brigades, the agency's interna­tional work has had another im­portant function, he points out. It has helped Sweden gain a strong international reputation.

Proof of this came when the UN appointed a regional adminis­trator in Kosovo, with responsibil­ity for five municipalities and half a million residents. The position was given to Lennart Myhlback.

"1 was responsible for every­thing from refuse collection and schools to medical care. It was exciting work, but it was also in­credibly difficult."

After three years working in Kosovo, Lennart Myhlback decid­ed to leave his position as Director General of the SRSA.

IN RETROSPECT, the massacre in Rwanda in 1995 is the event that has left the strongest impression.

"I visited Nyamata when the bodies were still lying there. It was a horrendous sight, and the stench was sickening. But the experienced firefighters who were with me took care of me, and almost held my hand. It was a terrible thing to experience, but at the same time

I was impressed by their way of handling the situation."

"That was just one of many pieces of evidence that prove just how capable our fire service per­sonnel are. It also showed that we made the right call when we de­cided to select mostly older, more experienced personnel for our operations."