On the front lines: the first six heroes of Chornobyl

The six firemen above - (beginning with top row, from left) Mykola Tytenok, 24; Mykola Vashchuk, 27; Vasyl Ihnatenko, 25; Volodymyr Pravyk, 24; Viktor Kibenok, 23; and Volodymyr Tyshura, 27 - took the most active part in extinguishing the fire in reactor No. 4 of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. Wearing only their everyday uniforms, they were not equipped to do battle with the nuclear inferno. They were exposed to radiation levels of 30,000 roentgens an hour and received doses of 1,500 roentgens. Dr. Yuri Shcherbak, in his book "Chornobyl: A Documentary Story" wrote of these six members of the Chornobyl Fire Station: "They saved the nuclear power station, they saved Prypiat, Chornobyl, Kyiv, all of us." All six died within two weeks after heroically performing their duties; their bodies were buried in special lead coffins to protect the environment from the radiation of their corpses. These and other Chornobyl firemen were honored in special ceremonies on April 26 in Slavutych, the city built after the accident to house the still-functioning Chornobyl plant's employees. (Photos by Efrem Lukatsky/AP.)

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, May 5, 1996, No. 18, Vol. LXIV

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