Croatia Public Safety
-----------------------------------------------
Croatia Fire Services - info from http://cro-fire.webjump.com - click on "Welcome" on rite side
A History This year (1999) the Croatian fire service is marking its 135 year old tradition (1864 - 1999) of an organized fire fighting with the full national as well as international acknowledgement. As early as 1864 Croatia proved to be able to keep pace with the new occurances of those times within the European fire services, at the turn of the feudal rigidity into the democratic mobility of the new bourgeois society (1846), when the first fire fighting unit, later brigade, was founded in terms of new and fresh ideas and on the initiative of Carl Metz from Durlach in GermanyCaption - The 1st Croatian fire service magazine in 1892 (eng. "Firefighter")
There was really a minimal time difference of only 18 years between that initial year in Germany (1846) and the establishment of the new Croatian fire service in Varazdin (1864). The aim of the fire brigade was to fulfil its duty of a modern and efficient fire protection of goods as well as saving human lives jeopardized by fire (later also by other natural disasters). The modern Croatian fire service thus proves, with full and rich tradition from the very beginning, its uninterrrupted belonging, in time and pursuits, to the European humane civilization, contributing essentially to the entire entry of Croatia and the people of Croatia into the civilization and the historic course of the development of Middle and West Europe. It was recognized and confirmed at an international level on 25th September 1992 in Albena (Bulgaria) by admittance of the Croatian Fireprotection Society (national fire brigades association of Croatia) into the CTIF i.e. the International Technical Committee for Fire Prevention and Extinguishing.
Photo Caption - Emblem of the Croatian Fireprotection Society
Long lasted that innefficient medieval fire night watch of the guilds equipped only with fire buckets full of water. At that time great fires destroyed easily whole, in architectural terms, too dendely inhabited towns and numerous reports give evidence of burnt down houses, and hundreds, even thousands of victims of fires. So in the year 1689 the Great Fire of Copenhagen (Denmark) claimed 300 victims, in 1794 in Capodistria (Italy) 1000, in 1645 in Canton (China) even 1400, then in 1876 in New York (USA) 286 people were killed, in 1881 in Vienna (Austria) 600 etc. Our Zagreb (the capitol) experienced its own disastrous fires in 1645 and 1674, and even the cradle of our modern fire service, the baroque town of Varazdin, remembers its destroying great fires from the year 1582 and especially 1776 and again from 1808 and 1827. Those great fires in towns got in raging storms disastrous dimensions and burnt down whole overpopulated quarters, even whole towns. Similar situation, caused by inflammable materials and windy weather, can be found today in warm regions (for example in the Mediterranean on the whole, but also on our touristically important Adriatic coast) despite the modern fire fighting organization and the most sophisticated aircraft technique and strategy. In contrast to the entirely inefficient and powerless fire protection of the Middle Ages, the new and more dynamic bourgeois society, undergoing gradual industrialization, created most forward ideas and found solutions in more efficient volunteer fire protection with full engagement of the jeopardized people. The fully new, positive and successful initiative to the modernizing of fire protection was given by the German technician Carl Metz in Durlach, a small town near the well known of Karlsruhe on the Rhine. There he organized the first volunteer fire fighting unit (later brigade) made up of citizens. A rule by Carl Metz from 1846 should be remembered about the highest priorities in organizing and evaluating of the human factor which is going to be "free of cost and continuously ready for action" of fighting the fire, and that: 1.organized in troops, 2. technically equipped, 3. strategically united with the fire fighting equipment and agents, 4. doing it on the pure humanitarian basis of an mutual civilized solidarity, and 6. doing it in the conviction that with the united powers and technical capacities he can fight the fire (and other natural disasters) successfully as well as efficiently rescue jeopardised lives. In the development of the Croatian fire service a remarkable stress is laid on a higher form of organizing into associations - unions at the level of municipality, district, region and nowdays at a county level and even to the organizing at the level of the republic, and that from that first Croato-Slavonian fire fighting association (from 1876) to the Croatian Fireprotection Society of today (from 1993).
Photo Caption - Managing Board of the Croato-Slavonian fire fighting association in 1894
The historic survey shows all these forms of higher organizing, but also all the meanders of their non-state establishment and status which had to wait for years for legal regulations and alternations, despite the repeated demands at fire brigade meetings. Among the most often repeated demands for a good function of fire service, was the question of financing of this humanitarian organization, the activity of which can be of course be realized only at increased costs necessary in the adequate growing of fire hazards, in the process of industralization, in the development of the standard of life, and also in the increasing number of material damages caused by forest fires, especially on the Adriatic coast in summer. In some years a dramatic fighting is going on at the scene of fire stretching for miles, with a heavy pall of smoke hanging over it, where "earth and sky" seem to be burning. Trees and bushes are often burning in hard to reach areas, so that aircrafts "Canadairs" remain the only hope.
Photo Caption - A Croatian Canadair CL-415 in action
A great attention has to be given to the development, role and activities of the Croatian fire service after the historic Sovereignity Day on 30th May 1990 and after the proclamation of its own constitution at the end of the same year. Croatian firefighters had a great role in the heroic war victory against the Serbian army forces in their aggression on the independent Croatia (1991-1995). Among the greatest successes is the heroic, skilful and strategically brilliantly led fire defence of the Refinery of Sisak. There the enemy threatened with an ecological disaster because more than 30 000 tons of petroleum and its inflammable products flew out from the shell-hit containers into the river Sava near Sisak, creating an oil slick which was more than 100 km long, however the aggressor did not succeed in setting fire to that floating danger because its inflammability and explosiveness were masterly neutralized (using foam) by the fire brigade of the Refinery, being awarded by the highest authorities of the country and the people of Croatia. The fires in the Refinery of Sisak got alarming dimensions of the great fires of Europe. One among the firehouses destroyed by war The historic development of the Croatian fire service can't be described without mentioning of the leading historic fire service personalities: the ideologist (and "father of the Croatian fire service") Mr. Gjuro Dezelic and the organizer (and "teacher") Mr. Mirko Kolaric. Their contribution is to the full extent marked as legendary in the modernized fire service of our country. They laid the foundations of the fire service tradition and created a positive image of a fireman and bequethed it to their nation. Since the establishing of the new and independent Republic of Croatia worshipping of St. Florian, as the patron saint of firemen, has been restored, which the volunteer fire brigades introduced at very beginning of their foundation in the 19th century. St. Florian, patron saint of firefighters
CROATIAN FIRE SERVICE -- TODAY
All important issues related to the fire service in the Republic of Croatia are specified and regulated by the Fire Service Law (from year 1999) and its related acts. Fire service in Croatia today consists of : -- regional and municipal public fire brigades founded by governing authorities (full-time or volunteer), -- volunteer fire departments (including their fire brigades), -- volunteer and professional (full-time) fire brigades in companies, -- rapid-response brigade (at the level of country). Primary activities of all fire brigades are: a) fire extinguishment b) technical and operational support in cases of disasters c) fire prevention d) other social activities. All these activities include: extinguishment of the various types of fires, rescue support at the road traffic accidents (RTAs), water rescue during the floods and the water pumping from the flooded buildings, drinking water delivery, support at the RTAs with the hazardous materials involved, hydrant systems check, fire safety education of the society, various fire prevention activities, publishment of the fire safety advertisements, organization of the fire service competitions, etc.
Photo Caption - A detail from the most significant annual competition event in Croatia, Mirko Kolaric Memorial Competition in Varazdin
TYPES OF THE FIRE BRIGADES Regional and municipal public fire brigades Public Fire Brigades which are founded as the first line of the fire protection for particular region, town or municipality (full-time, volunteer or combined) are the best equiped firefighting units in Croatia. They have been founded in almost all counties (21 of them). There were 19 such brigades in Croatia in 1998 (still under the Ministry of Interior at that time - following the previous Fire Service Law). Their headquarters are situated in the centres of their counties, with a supporting units (as an integral part of them) located in medium-size towns with a greater potential fire risk. These brigades consists of about 2 000 full-time (paid, professional) firefighters (in 19 brigades) and they operate with about 480 firefighting vehicles and 230 light portable pumps. A certain number of volunteer firefighters supports them. The first paid fire brigade in Croatia was founded in Zagreb, the capitol, by Mirko Kolaric in 1910 . Volunteer fire departments Volunteer fire departments and their fire brigades are the oldest type of fire service in Croatia, with the vol. fire dept. of Varazdin as the oldest one (founded in 1864 as the third one in the Central Europe). They operate on the territory of their own town or villages or smaller towns, but they still have a duty to respond to a fire in other places after receiving such command through the dispatch system (which is usually being operated by the headquarters of the professional fire brigades in county centres). Most of the interventions are performed without the assistance from the professional fire brigades as the vol. firefighting personell is being educated and trained regularly. There are two kinds of such departments in Croatia: - central departments, - their fire brigades operate on the whole territory of a municipality to which the department (its town or village) belongs to (they are supposed to have at least 20 operating members), - supporting departments, whose fire brigades mainly operate in their town or village (with at least 10 operating members). A great majority of vol. fire departments are full-volunteer with only a few departments which have a few full-time firefighters (in towns without the professional fire brigade). Fire departments have formed their regional associations at the level of municipality (186 such associations), level of county (21 associations - overlaping the county territories). Croatian Fireprotection Society is the national fire services association (headquarters in Zagreb - address: Hrvatska vatrogasna zajednica, Nasicka 14, 1000 Zagreb) which consists of all firefighters and their fire departments in Croatia. There were about 1 800 vol. fire departments in Croatia in 1998 with approximatelly 80 000 vol. firefighters (including 5 000 women and 13 000 fire service youth). They have about 2 000 firehouses with 1 800 firefighting vehicles and 1 850 light portable pumps. Volunteer and Full-time Fire Brigades in Companies/Businesses These brigades are formed to protect the workers and the property of the companies in which they have been founded. They also have to respond to a call in case of a greater emergency outside the company. There were 108 volunteer fire brigades in companies during a year 1998 in Croatia with about 3 700 vol. firefighters in the fire protection of their company. Professional fire brigades are being organized in 48 various companies with about 1 000 firefighters. They operate with 120 vehicles and 115 light portable pumps.
FIRE LOSS IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
There were 7 292 fires recorded in Croatia in 1997. These fires were mainly caused by a human factor (81 %) with natural and undetermined cause in other cases. Exactly 20 fires are being reported every day (in average) causing a loss worth about 2 140 000 kunas (around 14,5 million $) in average. About 35 persons die because of a fire (yearly), and about 100 persons are being injured.