Can you tell us what motivated you to take on this new position as County Fire Chief?
I have been in the fire department since I was eleven years old, when I accessed my Klan DVD, and in 1994 I got a job in the then Department of Fire Department of the Ministry of Interior PU-PG – today the JVP of the City of Rijeka. As a professional firefighter, I performed the duties of firefighter and firefighter driver until 2002, when I was appointed shift leader, which position I held until 2004, when I moved to the position of assistant commander for operational and technical affairs.
In 2008, I was appointed deputy commander of the fire department, a position I remain in until taking over the position of county fire chief in August of the current year. In parallel with the advancement in the profession, I actively worked on personal development, following the trends in the development of the firefighting operation and the related industry. In this sense, I attended numerous courses and trainings, mostly abroad.
As the president of the Commission for Firefighter Training at the Firefighters’ Association, I participated in the construction of our instructor team with the aim of transferring the collected knowledge to members of our members. We have made significant strides in this field, which has made us recognizable beyond Croatian borders. I have numerous published professional works behind me as well as numerous public lectures at domestic, as well as at conferences and professional gatherings in Europe, USA, Asia and Australia. Membership in the International Fire Instructors Workshop (IFIW) since 2010, as well as participation in the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, where I obtained the title of trainer for the mechanism’s modules, contributed to numerous international activities.
A number of different interventions contributed to personal development, and as a kind of career crown, I can certainly point out the command of the Petrinja Fire Department’s operational zone after the earthquake.
Throughout the years of active work in the fire department, there was no lack of motivation, and the numerous successes of the PGŽ Fire Department are the result of teamwork, which, among other things, gave birth to the Šapjane Fire Department Training Center, the first of its kind in Croatia. Through the function of county fire chief, I recognize new challenges as well as opportunities to contribute to the fire profession on a different level.
What are your top priorities and goals in this new role?
As a top priority, I mapped out people. Firefighting in Croatia is seeing a decline in interest in joining the operational ranks of both volunteer and professional fire brigades. This primarily affects units coming from regions with developed tourism, but other areas are also affected. Today there are very good earning opportunities for those who want to work.
Indirectly, this particularly affects volunteer fire brigades, where more significant developments are needed to motivate people to join and stay in fire companies. More significant steps are needed primarily from the state level, which will have to come up with motivational benefits, both for volunteer firefighters and for the employers who employ these people.
But a lot can be done at the county level as well. From designing programs and activities for the 16-18-year-old membership population, which is not included in the existing competitive disciplines, which is why the largest number of them leave voluntary fire brigades at that age, to the motivation of operational membership by enabling personal development through specialist training – free of charge.
What are the biggest security challenges you face?
Certainly the biggest security challenge is the overall development of the community. Man strives for betterment with the aim of facilitating daily life activities. All too often, this puts the fire department several steps behind, meaning we sometimes lag behind progress. The most recent proof of this is the so-called green transition, which as an imperative imposes all kinds of electrification, primarily in traffic. The firefighting profession and the accompanying industry have not yet jumped to the fire of electric batteries, both those in traffic and those used to store electricity generated by solar panels.
Climate change as a global challenge should not be ignored either. Civilization is increasingly exposed to natural disasters, which are largely the result of climate change. Increasingly, one can find the thoughts of experts from certain fields that the answer to some of the disasters will be found in the transition from an offensive to a defensive approach.
I personally encountered this kind of thinking for the first time in a professional article after the catastrophic fires that hit California in 2017. And it’s not far from reality. The man left agriculture and stopped doing animal husbandry.
This is the fact that the wilderness « moved » to the very outskirts of the settlement. Thus, the aforementioned thinking goes in the direction of focusing on the protection of human lives and infrastructure, while the wilderness itself would be left to nature, because – there were forest fires even before man, and nature took care of itself.
a. Whether or not you agree with this kind of thinking, the fact is that the world is exposed to the so-called sixth generation of forest fires and that more and more resources are being harnessed globally to extinguish them.
What technologies do you consider key to improving firefighting operations?
Firefighter safety! It’s not technology, but it’s imperative and all possible technology needs to be harnessed precisely for the firefighter’s safety. Only a safe firefighter is the guarantee of a successful intervention. Here, I will put hygiene in the first place, and in the sense of the firefighting operative term, which is globally called industrial hygiene. It is not a technology that will directly improve firefighting operations, but it will significantly affect the health of the firefighter.
Today, firefighters are faced with the burning of combustible substances of synthetic origin, which release a considerable amount of various toxic and carcinogenic components during combustion. The world has recognized the occurrence of cancer in firefighters as an occupational disease, something Croatia is still far from. The circular system of maintaining personal protective equipment in combination with personal hygiene after the intervention is an imperative that fire brigades should strive for with the aim of preventing the occurrence of cancer among the fire brigade population. Personal protective equipment with the capacity to protect against the penetration of nano particles should also be on that track.
Remote monitoring of the general condition of the firefighter will further contribute to the safety of the firefighter and the timely response of the command staff. It is a technology that is present and is gradually entering the fire service.
Use of remotely piloted aircraft wherever possible. Primarily, this refers to a better reconnaissance and assessment of the situation both in open space fires and in closed space fires. Use of remotely controlled robot machines wherever possible.
In general, humanity has been faced with the elimination of jobs at the expense of automation of work processes for decades. Firefighting is one field where that won’t happen anytime soon. A characteristic of a well-trained firefighter is that he reacts promptly to changed circumstances. One of the places where this is extremely important is the internal rush when extinguishing a fire in a closed space.
Thermovision. A kind of turning point was the appearance of thermal imaging cameras, which allow the firefighter to see in the smoky area. The upgrade to « ordinary » thermal imaging is a technology that will allow insight into the contours of the space into which the firefighter enters. Although still in its infancy, this upgrade will significantly improve firefighter safety. As an imperative, a thermal imaging camera should be installed as the personal responsibility of every firefighter. Today, these systems are already integrated into the mask of the isolation apparatus, which also frees the firefighter’s hands.
Reliable radio connection, reliable electronic systems on firefighting vehicles and equipment, adequate fire prevention and many other systems, equipment, procedures are factors that exist, and on which there is room for improvement in order to improve the efficiency of firefighting operations.
Can you share one of the most challenging moments in your career as a firefighter and how you overcame it?
I mentioned here the earthquake in Petrinja. By assuming the duties of commander of the Petrinja Operational Zone after the earthquake, I had about 300 firefighters on a daily basis in the area for which I assumed responsibility. This is not the first such situation, but for the first time it was forces from almost all parts of Croatia – from different fire brigades. It was indeed a challenge, and I overcame it thanks to my team, that is, together with my closest colleagues who actually formed the core of the management of the operational zone.