ZAGREB, 20 Dec 2021 - The Croatian Fire Service marked the 145th anniversary of its existence on Monday, with senior state officials stressing the importance of its new organization.

President Zoran Milanović praised the integration of the Fire Service into the state administration through the establishment of the State Firefighting Office, saying that there were about 1,800 voluntary firefighter associations in the country.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković thanked all firefighters for their commitment to this humane, responsible, and important job. "Firefighting is an important and noble activity which is socially beneficial and which brings people together," he said.

Plenković said that in order to strengthen the Fire Service the government had passed the new Fire Service Act and increased budget allocations for it to nearly HRK 370 million (€49.3m) for next year.

Fire Service Director Ante Sanader said that Croatia's first volunteer firefighters association was established in the northern city of Varaždin 157 years ago. He highlighted the good cooperation with firefighters associations from Slovenia and Austria and noted that a Croatian representative had served two terms as vice-president of the International Association of Fire Services.

Chief Fire Officer Slavko Tucaković said that the Fire Service had carried out over 73,000 missions involving 23,000 firefighters during the coronavirus pandemic and 14,500 operations in Sisak-Moslavina County alone after last year's earthquakes.

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