Titenok was attached to SWPCH-6 (6th Paramilitary Fire Department) for the protection of
Pripyat. He was on duty at the time of the disaster, and when the emergency alert from the
nuclear power plant's fire station came through at 1:25 AM, he climbed aboard an ATS-40 (130) 63A firefighting vehicle based on the ZIL-130 chassis, along with his superior
Lieutenant Viktor Kibenok, and his colleague Nikolai Vashchuk, all of whom would later die. SWPCH-6 arrived on the scene of the disaster at 1:35 AM along the southern side, parking along the turbine hall next to the trucks from HPV-2 (
NPP's fire department). Soon after disembarking, Lieutenant Kibenok received orders from Lieutenant Pravik over radio (who at that point was the site commander) telling Kibenok to move his vehicles to the north side of the reactor building, as the fire on the roof of the ventilation block needed to be extinguished to prevent the fire from spreading to the adjacent reactor 3, which at this point, was still operating. At 1:38, Titenok was on the north side of the plant, close to the VSRO building, helping his colleagues connect hose lines to hydrants, preparing to make the climb to the roof of the third reactor. None of the men from SWPCH-6, including Titenok, had any idea that this would be fatal. At 1:47 AM, PPC-17 arrived (the
Chernobyl Town fire department). Titenok immediately ran to the arriving trucks, and began helping them roll out and connect hose lines, so they could establish a water supply. Lieutenant Kibenok convened with Lieutenant Pravik, asking him how to reach the roof of the third reactor, as they were city firefighters and didn't know the route. Pravik told Kibenok to deploy his mechanical ladder-truck, giving them access to the roof of the VSRO building, from there allowing them to reach the fire escape on the northern face of unit 3, which led directly to the roof. Since Kibenok didn't know the way, Pravik offered to guide his squad instead. At around 1:53 AM, Titenok, along with:
Vasily Ignatenko, Nikolai Vashchuk,
Vladimir Pravik and Vladimir Tishura, all began climbing to the roof of the third unit. Firstly by using the ladder truck, then using the fire escape staircase to reach the roof of unit 3. When they reached the roof, both Titenok and Tishura were having issues with the pressure of their hoses - it was too low. At around 2:00 AM, Pravik shouted down the radio to the
Ural fire truck driver: "Give us some more pressure!" A few minutes later, they climbed to the roof of the vent block roof, later named 'Masha'. At 2:05 AM Lieutenant Pravik reported "Explosion in the reactor compartment." over the radio. Hearing this, Lieutenant Kibenok began climbing to the roof as well. Titenok, along with Tishura, began attempting to quench the small flames, started by pieces of super-heated graphite and fuel assemblies igniting the bitumen covered roof. The burning bitumen quickly became a hindrance to the men on the roof, as it melted due to the heat, and began sticking to their boots, making it hard to move. The burning bitumen also produced thick black smoke, which they were all breathing in, and which caused burns their airways. The super-heated fuel proved difficult to extinguish, as the water was often evaporated before it could even reach the flames. Thus, the firemen began trying to stomp out glowing pieces of fuel and burning graphite chunks. After around twenty minutes, Vladimir Tishura collapsed, he was unable to stand and was violently vomiting, a few minutes later, Titenok himself collapsed. Vasily Ignatenko helped carry them both down from the roof. They were helped out of their firefighting gear by their comrades, and ordered by
Leonid Telyatnikov to go to ABK-2 (2nd administration building between units 2 & 3) and await the arrival of ambulances. By 2:35 AM, ambulances had arrived, and Titenok and his squad were taken to Sanitary Unit No.126 in Pripyat. == Hospitalization and death ==