January 26, 2021 – Firefighter Srđan Botica from Slano near Dubrovnik was inconsolable after his hero Petrinja rescue dog Alice was poisoned a few days ago. Although irreplaceable, Srđan's friends could no longer stand by and watch him grieve undeservedly, so they bought a brand new Belgian Shepherd puppy to cheer him up

Srđan Botica was inconsolable after the death of his dog, Alice. Although she was still quite young, Alice and Srđan had built a strong bond between them. The training required for a dog like Alice to become a specialist search and rescue dog will have that kind of effect. The relationship Srđan established with Alice was strengthened both in his workplace, where Srđan is a firefighter and at home, which is where Srđan brought Alice each evening.

The final test of the pair's attachment was to be the rubble left in the aftermath of the Sisak Moslavina earthquake. Srđan volunteered to travel from Dubrovnik to help in the response. Alice became a Petrinja rescue dog, scouring the damaged and fallen buildings for survivors. The inseparable pair stayed for six days undertaking their work.

Srdan and Alice at work after the earthquake

As TCN was saddened to report over recent days, the partnership of Srđan Botic and his Petrinja rescue dog Alice was tragically cut short within weeks of their return. Alice was poisoned on the streets of her home in Slano, near Dubrovnik.

Though Petrinja rescue dog Alice was one of a kind and can never be replaced, the friends of firefighter Srđan Botica could no longer sit by and watch his undeserved grief. Over the last couple of days they clubbed together and bought Srđan a new dog. Srđan's new housemate goes by the name of Amy and she's still just a puppy. Amy is a Belgian Shepherd, the exact same breed as Petrinja rescue dog Alice.

It is probably still too early to say whether Amy will follow in Alice's pawsteps to become a search and rescue dog. But, Belgian Shepherds are one of the best-known breeds for this kind of work. They are used as search and rescue dogs by firefighters and mountain rescue in many countries, and as police and military dogs. They have a good reputation as sniffer dogs, particularly in the field of finding illegal drugs. Several Belgian Shepherds have been decorated for bravery and they are very protective of their owners and handlers.

The US Secret Service, Israel Defence Forces, Indian NSG commando unit and Royal Australian Air Force use Belgian Shepherds in their work. The breed is second in number only to the German Shepherd for use across the whole of the US Armed Forces.

September the 11th, 2020 - In a sea of bad news and economic concerns as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, life has become a bit depressing and each and every positive, uplifting headline is one to cherish. One such story is that of some Komiza firefighters carrying two disabled people up the side of a mountain to a viewpoint so that they could watch the sunset.

Croatian firefighters are usually busy with dealing with forest fires caused by the extreme heat mixing with the dry Dalmatian bush, or unfortunately by arsonists at this time of year, but that doesn't stop them from taking some time out to help those in need to fulfil their wishes. Komiza firefighters have caused a wave of positivity and appreciation as they trudged up to Hum carrying a girl with cerabal palsy with them so she could see the sun go down. But she wasn't the only one...

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 10th of September, 2020, honourable members of the Voluntary Fire Brigade of Komiza from the beautiful Dalmatian island of Vis delighted the Croatian public after taking a girl with cerebral palsy up to Hum so she could enjoy the sunset.

"Today, we responded to the initiative of our member Nadja Ramic to enable a person with cerebral palsy to enjoy the most beautiful sunset - the one from Hum. Since the last 50 metres leading up to the viewpoint are in a very bad condition, our members helped to carrt the person to the viewpoint,'' they Komiza firefighters stated.

The moment they were carrying Doris to the Hum viewpoint, they noticed another person with a disability. It was no less than the Croatian travel writer Slaven Skrobot who also wanted to watch the stunning sunset from the same place, so the Komiza firefighters helped him as well.

"At that moment, there was another person with a disability nearby, whom we also brought to the viewpoint," said the selfless members of DVD Komiza on their official Facebook page.

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While it hasn't officially begun yet according to the calendar, it really feels like summer has finally arrived on the Croatian shores after a spring of tumultuous weather and rather cool temperatures. The rays of the sun are growing stronger each day and we're now more stable in the mid twenties to early thirties on the thermometer. A far cry from a rain-filled May.

With the heat and the abundance of sunshine come a problem that Croatia, like many Mediterranean countries, is forced to deal with on an annual basis - wild fires. 

These fires have ravaged parts of Dalmatia over the last few summers, causing untold damage not only to the environment but to homes, buildings and cars. Some were caused naturally, and it appears that in the past, some have unfortunately been started on purpose. The reasons behind such destructive acts remain a mystery. 

Natural or otherwise, wild fires spread like... well, wild fire, and an extremely quick response from the authorities is necessary to prevent them from becoming out of control, which is something that can happen in a very short time, particularly in parched, dry Dalmatian forests.

As Morski writes on the 13th of June, 2019, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia and Agriculture Minister, Tomislav Tolušić, will go to the Public Fire Station in Novi Zagreb at 14:00, in the name of the delivery of 74 fire engines purchased by the Croatian Ministry of Agriculture within the scope of a specific firefighting program which took place back in 2018.

Based on the Agreement between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Croatian Fire Department on the implementation of the activities of equipping and training Croatian fire brigades in 2018, the Croatian Ministry of Agriculture procured 74 new firefighting vehicles, 2,200 new sets of protective equipment, and funded the complete training of 6,000 new firefighters.

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