Bm Országos Katasztrófavédelmi Főigazgatóság, Budapest

The Hungarian disaster management was established from the fire service and the organizations of civil protection performing state tasks. The merger was the result of a natural process aiming at greater efficiency, in which international effects and experience also played a role in it. An Act stipulated the integration. Fire Service The history of the organized fire service goes back to antique times, to Pannonia of the Roman Empire. Ever since Christianity had reached Hungary, the legend of Saint Florian was kept alive here in Hungary, too. The establishment of modern fire brigades is related to the name and committed work of Count Ödön Széchenyi, who used his experiences gained in London to establish the fire service in Budapest in 1870. In 1900, Hungary was among the founding members of CTIF, the Technical Committee for the Prevention and Extinguishing of Fires (International Fire Association).