October 28, 2020 – This year, with a donation of ten drones, Tele2 continues to support all the fire brigades who take care of the protection of Croatian natural beauties, property, and the safety of all citizens daily.

As Index.hr reports, over 100,000 firefighters from all over the country took part in just over 20,000 firefighting interventions this year. That is 46 percent more interventions than in 2019. This is shown by the report of the Croatian Fire Brigade, which emphasizes the specifics of this year because, in addition to defense and fire protection, firefighters also help the crisis headquarters in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, and in repairing the damage caused by the Zagreb earthquake and numerous floods.

Project ‘DRONacija’

The key contribution to the efficiency of fire brigades is certainly their technical equipment, to which the use of modern technology can significantly contribute. Precisely because they are aware of how much technology contributes to the daily work of fire brigades, Tele2 has been donating drones to fire brigades in Croatia for years as part of its socially responsible project “DRONacija”.

Namely, Tele2 has donated drones for 15 fire brigades throughout Croatia for the past three years. By donating drones to fire brigades of Zabok, Zagreb, Osijek, Rijeka, Hvar, and Orebić, Tele2 helped protect as much as 10 percent of the total area of Croatia.

Drones as an aid for earthquake damage

Assistance to citizens, but also the safety of firefighters themselves are extremely important in all types of emergency interventions, and one of them was during eliminating the consequences of the earthquake that hit Zagreb and its surroundings in March this year, where firefighters recorded over six thousand interventions.

"That morning, March 22, all fire brigades in Zagreb and the surrounding area were on the field in the minutes after the earthquake and then for days, to remove those most critical facilities that threatened the safety of all citizens. Of course, the drones were right next to us because we needed the help of technology in inspecting hard-to-reach and tall objects. Unfortunately, during one such intervention, one of our drones was destroyed. We were extremely happy with the quick reaction of Tele2 because they called immediately and donated a new drone to us," recalled Siniša Jembrih, Commander of the Zagreb Public Fire Brigade. Namely, Tele2 donated a drone to JVP Zagreb in 2018 as part of “DRONacija” project.

"Drones have been very helpful in dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake. They allowed us a quick overview of the damage to the chimneys and roofs of the buildings. This significantly accelerated the interventions of firefighters, but also the rehabilitation of the most critical facilities. In practice, this meant that the drones gave us a view of the roof even before the firefighters climbed to see the situation, and thus the safety of firefighters in the field was greatly improved," said Siniša Jembrih.

Assistance to those who care about our safety

Tele2 points out they are proud that thanks to this project, they have the opportunity to directly help the work of Croatian firefighters, and thus all citizens.

"We are extremely happy to have been partners for many years with those who care about our safety daily. The organization of the public call and the donation of as many as ten drones this year are another step forward in our support for firefighter heroes," said Marijana Grubešić, coordinator of socially responsible business at Tele2.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages.

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

Saturday, 5 September 2020 – More than 100 policemen were searching for the escaped man, but in the end it was a firefighters Malinois Belgian Shepherd that sniffed him out.

When detainee Branimir Čaleta managed to escape from custody on September 2, armed police were immediately on his tail. They knew where to look – he was seen running in the direction of Turska kula and the Park Mladosti in Split, near the Poljud football stadium.

But, though more than 100 officers were searching for the wanted man, in the end, it was a firefighters Malinois Belgian Shepherd called Flip that sniffed him out.


The Malinois Belgian Shepherd is used by armed services, the police and for search and rescue all over the world © TC Perch

Details of Flip's assistance were revealed in an interview undertaken with the dog's handler, Split firefighter Joško Čule by the 24 sata news outlet. Although he was not allowed to reveal details of the fugitive's capture, Joško did speak about his dog.

Flip is a search dog of the Public Fire Brigade of the City of Split, a firefighters Malinois Belgian Shepherd. He was trained to search in all environments, from urban areas and ruins to wild nature, and in all weather conditions. He is a family dog, loves spending time with children, and with the firefighters. He is an active member of the firefighting team in Split and works every day. Flip is taken into the field when necessary and has so far participated in four searches for lost people. He found them all.

This firefighters Malinois Belgian Shepherd is just one of the types of Belgian Shepherd. The other three are called Groenendael, Laekenois, and Tervuren. In Belgium, their country of origin, all four types are considered to be varieties of a single breed, differentiated by hair color and texture. Elsewhere, they are sometimes considered separate breeds.

Flip, the firefighters Malinois Belgian Shepherd is typical in having tan to brown short hair with patches of black. Belgian Shepherd Dogs are highly intelligent, alert, and sensitive to everything going on around them, and they form very strong relationship bonds. They are loyal, intelligent, fun, make good family pets and are very receptive to being trained, thus explaining the position of this firefighters Malinois Belgian Shepherd.


A Belgian Shepherd with a close relative, a Dutch Shepherd © Marius Zopole 

It is not only firefighters who use these dogs. They are used as search and rescue dogs by other services and as police and military dogs. They have a good reputation as sniffer dogs, particularly in the field of finding illegal drugs. Several Malinois Belgian Shepherds have been decorated for bravery. They are very protective of their owners and handlers.

The US Secret Service, Israel Defense Forces, Indian NSG commando unit and Royal Australian Air Force use Malinois 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.

The fugitive Branimir Čaleta ran away from police while he was at court in Split, where he was appearing charged with the murder of his one-time girlfriend, a Ukrainian national. Čaleta is now back in custody, thanks to Flip, the firefighters Malinois Belgian Shepherd.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

Mljet has been given the responsibility of caring for Dubrovnik-Neretva County's very first firefighting boat, which has been procured thanks to EU funds.

As Morski writes on the 2nd of March, 2019, Dubrovnik-Neretva County prefect Nikola Dobroslavić handed over the first firefighting vessel in Dubrovnik-Neretva County in Dubrovnik's port on Friday. The vessel is named Sveti Florijan, named after the patron saint of Linz.

The vessel was handed over by the prefect to the mayor of Mljet, Đivo Marketa, who immediately presented and subsequently handed it over to commander of Mljet's fire brigade, to Mario Dabelić.

Prefect Nikola Dobroslavić stressed that this is an excellent example of good use of the money made available to Croatia from European Union funds.

''The ship is largely financed by EU funds through a project conducted by Dubrovnik-Neretva County. This is the first firefighting boat in our county, and JVP Mljet (Mljet fire brigade) will be responsible for it, but of course it will be available to the whole of this southern area. Another firefighting vessel is coming to the City of Dubrovnik soon and this is a significant addition to the safety and the possibility of interventions being made at sea. This ship will be used for firefighting on boats, as well as in some other emergency situations,'' stated Dobroslavić, among other things.

Sveti Florijan is the first firefighter in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, otherwise Croatia's southernmost county, area acquired by the southern Dalmatian county as part of the scope of the European project AdriaMORE, which is otherwise one of the projects currently being implemented by the Interreg Croatia-Italy cross-border program.

The project activities of Dubrovnik-Neretva County are worth around 350,000 kuna, of which 85 percent are being co-financed with the very welcome funds of the European Regional Development Fund, and the remaining 15 percent are financed by the county's own funds.

A shipbuilding contract, worth about 950,000 kuna, was signed last September with Damor d.o.o., and, as previously mentioned, the new firefighting vessel will be taken care of by Mljet's fire brigade and by Mljet Municipality.

Dubrovnik-Neretva County organised the ceremony as part of the activities on this year's International Civil Protection Day, which was marked on March the 1st.

Make sure to stay up to date by following our dedicated lifestyle page. If it's just Dubrovnik and southern Dalmatia you're interested in, give Total Dubrovnik a follow.

A touch of Croatia in a far away land.

Playing with fire rarely brings positive results.

Supetar is learning from the disasters of last year and pouring more funding into fire safety.

The famous Croatian football player donated a generous amount to help two fire brigades do their job more safely. 

A close call as another fire with a potential threat to Konavle is extinguished.

More fires, but this time they appear to be under control.

Several cars stopped at the exit of the A2 Zagreb - Macelj highway tunnel as a thunderstorm raged outside.