ZAGREB, April 9, 2019 - A European Union firefighting exercise, Modex Cres 2019, is being held on the northern Adriatic island of Cres on April 7-10, and a part of the exercise, involving about 300 firefighters from a dozen EU countries and designed to demonstrate joint action by international forces, was presented to reporters on Monday.

This is the first EU exercise focusing on wildfires and it is part of the EU project "Romex" and of activities of the EU Mechanism of Civil Protection, which are designed to promote cooperation between member-states in cases of large-scale natural disasters and technological and environmental emergencies.

Of 34 member-countries, about a dozen are involved in the exercise in Cres, with firefighters from Croatia, Greece, Spain, France, Austria, Romania, Italy and Bulgaria participating directly.

The purpose of the firefighting exercise on Cres, to last without interruption for 52 hours, is to show whether Europe is prepared for big wildfires as recent ones in Sweden and Greece.

The emphasis of the exercise is not on technical capacity but on strategy, planning, tactics, operation efficiency, cooperation, orientation in unfamiliar terrain and flexibility.

The exercise is also part of a pilot project for advanced regional cooperation in extraordinary civilian situations, co-financed with funds from NATO's Science for Peace and Security Programme.

Preparations for the exercise were carried out by the Croatian Firefighting Association, in cooperation with the Romanian consortium CN APELL and the town of Cres.

The participating firefighters are using the Next-Generation Incident Command System, an advanced information system for the management of crisis situations, developed by the US Homeland Security Department's Science and Technology Directorate.

After the exercise was demonstrated, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides thanked Croatia for hosting the exercise, which he described as excellent, pointing to the importance of readiness and solidarity.

Croatian Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović said that Croatia had not been chosen to host the exercise by chance.

We have shown that we are among the very best, we are demonstrating solidarity and expect it when needed, Božinović said, adding that as part of a transitional mechanism Croatia would make available, for use outside of its borders, two firefighting planes and two police helicopters.

That means that we will get from the EU funds to cover 75% of the cost of our assistance, including maintenance, fuel and other costs, in the amount of around 2 million euros, Božinović said, adding that Croatia had helped before as well but that it had covered the cost of its assistance from its own budget.

He stressed that wildfires no longer affected only the south of Europe and that close to 5,000 Europeans were killed in natural disasters in the last five years. There were 138 major natural disasters, with losses amounting to more than EUR 20 billion, he said, adding that protection and rescue funds would be higher in the next multiannual framework, in excess of 1.3 billion kuna.

Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli, who also attended the demonstration, said that security was one of the most important reasons why tourists visited Croatia and that it was important to show them that Croatia was part of a big European security basin.

National firefighting commander Slavko Tucaković said that more than 600 participants were accredited for the exercise, that the EU had financed the project with 45,000 euro and that it involved all homeland security components - firefighters from five Croatian counties, Air Force members, members of the Red Cross and others.

More news about firefighting in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, April 3, 2019 - The first international firefighting exercise in the history of the EU, MODEX CRES 2019, is being held on the island of Cres on April 7-10, with firefighters from Croatia and seven other European countries participating.

A press conference held in Rijeka on Tuesday heard that the MODEX CRES 2019 exercise will continue for 52 hours and will cover the entire island.

The exercise will include 300 firefighters with more than a hundred vehicles as well as Croatian and Italian Canadair aircraft. The exercise is part of the EU's Civil Protection Mechanism and is aimed at improving cooperation between member states during interventions in natural disasters.

Croatia's chief fire officer Slavko Tucaković described the exercise as a historic event and yet another opportunity to check the country's homeland security system.

Large wildfires around Europe last year were a warning about the importance of international cooperation and coordination of firefighting services, Tucaković said. This exercise will test capabilities of receiving firefighting teams from other countries, their transport, communication, mobility, joint actions and logistic support, he added.

Vehicles and firefighters will be transported on regular ferry lines as well as landing craft. Firefighters will also practice helicopter landing and test IT systems for crisis management and the use of drones, he added.

More news on fire-fighting in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, February 2, 2019 - Frane Lučić, a firefighter from Vodice who was the only survivor in a 2007 tragedy in which his 12 fellow firefighters were killed while trying to put out a wildfire on the Kornat island, has won a lawsuit, pending appeal, against the town of Šibenik and the Republic of Croatia, which are to pay him damages in the amount of 1.75 million kuna as well as cover his previous and future disability-related costs and compensate him for lost income.

Lučić has won the case after more than 12 years since what was supposed to be a routine firefighting operation turned into a tragedy in which 12 firefighters from Šibenik, Vodice and Tisno were killed while Lučić survived, albeit with multiple injuries. He has been declared totally unfit for work.

When interest is added to the damages, and if the ruling of the Zagreb Municipal Labour Court becomes final, the town of Šibenik and the state will have to pay Lučić damages in the amount of several million kuna.

Šibenik firefighting commander Dražen Slavica was on trial for the Kornat tragedy two times but on 27 April 2018 he was acquitted by Zadar County Court pending appeal.

The prosecutor's office in Šibenik has appealed against the ruling, proposing that the Supreme Court quash the ruling and return the case to the trial court.

More news on the Kornati islands can be found in the lifestyle section.

“I wasn’t cold; there was no special danger, we know that part of the river well.” This is how Denis Kovačić, a humble firefighter from Vukovar, commented on the rescue of a dog from the Stara Vuka river in Vukovar, reports Večernji List on January 27, 2019.

He is a dog owner himself, and he asked his colleagues to let him save the dog. “I was not afraid to come close to her, it was enough for me to look into her eyes and everything was clear. She just needed to be rescued from cold water; she could not bark anymore...” Asked if he was thinking about whether something might go wrong, Denis said there is no room for such thoughts.

"We know the depth of the river. It is about a metre deep in that area. If the dog refused to stay on the mattress, I would have swum to get her. There are security procedures as you saw, we used three ropes, and four or five people were watching out for me. We do this kind of training. A dog can survive in cold water for about 15 minutes, and a child or an adult considerably less. After we were pulled to the shore, I immediately sent the owner home to warm up the dog.”

The Vukovar firefighters are well prepared for such situations, thanks to their commander Zdenko Jukić, who made sure they have expensive firefighting equipment for extreme conditions, which enables them to stay in the cold water for up to an hour. “Let the citizens know that we are well-trained for their security in extreme situations,” Denis added.

The owner of the dog, who released the video of the rescue on his Facebook profile, tried to pull the dog to the river bank himself. But the ice near the bank was too thin and was cracking. Fortunately, he called in the Vukovar firefighters.

The dog is named Lea, she weighs 24 kg and was found in the streets four years ago, when she was two months old. “We came just 3 to 4 minutes after receiving the call, but we do not know how long the dog was in cold water before that. We did not do anything heroic, we have been in much worse situations. We are happy for every happy outcome and a saved life," said Denis.

More news about Croatia’s firefighters can be found in the Lifestyle section.

Translated from Večernji List (reported by Linda Draškić).

The Zagreb city firefighting brigade, in addition to everything they do for citizens 365 days a year, is always ready to invest additional efforts to help the needy. Six years ago, the firefighters launched a charity project, reports Večernji List on November 16, 2018.

The project in question is the Firefighters Stair Challenge to the top of the VMD skyscraper in Strojarska Street, which will this year be held on December 1. Firefighters in full gear and with a breathing apparatus on their backs will compete who will be the first to reach the top of the building. They will climb a total of 31 floors, or 666 stairs. In this way, they will check their readiness to perform their firefighting duties, but also do one more good deed. This year, the race will include junior firefighters as well, who will race four floors.

The money collected by the charity project, all the registration fees and donations, will be used to help the Kolibrići Association, an association of parents of children with life-threatening diseases, primarily for the procurement of a CoughAssist device.

The project has been endorsed by the City of Zagreb. From the very first year, the race has been an international project (with fellow firefighters from Slovenia taking part since the beginning). Every year, there are more and more firefighters participating in the race; last year there were 161 firefighters.

The promotional activities for the race will include a presentation at the Dolac market on November 17, where fire-fighters will train together with members of the Kolibrići association.

All interested citizens can join the project by coming to the race, volunteering their time in the organization of the event, or by donating funds. More info about the event can be found on the website.

For more on charity projects in Croatia, click here.

ZAGREB, September 16, 2018 - President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović visited on Saturday the firefighting command centre at Divulje in Split, congratulating firefighters and staff of other relevant departments on this year's fire season being much more successful than last year's.

ZAGREB, August 30, 2018 - A wreath-laying ceremony was held outside the firefighting station in the coastal city of Šibenik to mark the start of events commemorating 12 volunteer firefighters from Šibenik, Vodice and Tisno who were killed while trying to put out a wildfire on Kornat island on 30 August 2007.

ZAGREB, August 19, 2018 - An on-site investigation of the Lopača Psychiatric Hospital has ruled out a technical cause of Friday's fire in the facility, while the identity and cause of death of the person killed in the fire will established after an autopsy, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Police spokeswoman Ankica Kolić said in Rijeka on Saturday.

ZAGREB, July 24, 2018 - Croatia's Defence Ministry is ready to send two firefighting planes to Greece to help in efforts to put out wildfires, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

ZAGREB, April 27, 2018 - In a retrial before the Zadar County Court, Šibenik fire chief Dražen Slavica was acquitted for a second time pending appeal on charges of being responsible for a tragedy that occurred on the Kornati islands in 2007, in which 13 firemen, sent to the island to put out a wildfire, were killed.