You probably already know about the ongoing situation with the coronavirus, and the earthquakes in Zagreb. As a matter of fact, I'm writing this minutes after another stronger earthquake shook Zagreb again. It wasn't nearly as strong as the first one, but when you're under the impression of the first one, anything similar might be too much. 

Photo Credit: Siniša Jembrih/Public Fireman Squad Zagreb

But, let's put that aside for a bit. During these critical times, the public has recognized the people from civil service, and generally our first responders as the heroes of our time. One of those heroes is our fire department. Now, there's a lot of stigmatization of what do firefighters actually do when there are no interventions. So, I decided to talk about it with Siniša Jembrih, the commanding officer of the Zagreb public fire brigade. 

A day in the life of a firefighter

Photo Credit: Siniša Jembrih/Public Fireman Squad Zagreb

Contrary to popular belief, the firefighters don't just lie around, play cards, and wait for intervention so that they could descend through that cool slide we see in the movies. In fact, it's just the opposite. Every working day of a firefighter is filled with activities. A good firefighter is a physically fit one." This is how Mr. Jembrih described an average day in the life of a firefighter. He also added that they don't just train their bodies, but their minds as well: 

Photo Credit: Siniša Jembrih/Public Fireman Squad Zagreb

"Sometimes, we follow the schedule of an average school. We have an educational plan that consists of drills, lectures, sports activities, and other amenities. When there are no interventions, we simulate our own. Midair and water rescues are some of those simulations. Sometimes, we even squash a car to simulate a car crash rescue. All in all, it's never boring, and there's never a slow day." 

Gone in 60 seconds

Photo Credit: Siniša Jembrih/Public Fireman Squad Zagreb

All of the training mentioned above is frequently interrupted by a call to action. Mr. Siniša described the situation when a fire bursts from their point of view: "We have no more than 60 seconds to react. When our running, climbing, cycling, or volleyball activities are interrupted by that red light on the wall, we must leave our HQ in Savska cesta and reach our destination in 15 critical minutes. If we fail to do that, the blaze will reach the next dangerous phase, and the damage will be much more severe." Now, isn't that an exciting, but also a very responsible job?

Photo Credit: Siniša Jembrih/Public Fireman Squad Zagreb

I remember one summer when I was working as a bartender in a small town in Dalmatia. There were a couple of volunteer firefighters who were regularly visiting. They told me a couple of stories about what it looks like to be face to face with fire. Honestly, I couldn't say which is harder, to be extinguishing fires in the streets of a city or in the wilderness, where there are not so many people, but a lot more trees. 

The great earthquake of Zagreb

Photo Credit: Siniša Jembrih/Public Fireman Squad Zagreb

In the time of writing, it's been a bit over a month since the big earthquake struck Zagreb. The magnitude of the earthquake was 5.5 on the Richter scale, damaging a lot of buildings and houses in the city center and nearer to the epicenter. Mr. Siniša Jembrih provided me with the information on how the situation looked like for the firefighters after the earthquake: "In the first couple of hours after the earthquake, the firefighters of Zagreb worked on around two hundred interventions. Those interventions were mainly rescuing the people from their apartments, elevators, and such. We also had a couple of more serious fires such as the one with the substation on Bukovac, a very important headquarters in the Draškovićeva street, and several rooftops in Kozari Putevi. It is interesting that, immediately after the earthquake, we had two reports on fires in hospitals (Srebrnjak and Petrova). Still, luckily their cause was dust, just as the one in the Zagreb Cathedral. It's important to say that all these interventions stretched our forces to the edge."

Photo Credit: Siniša Jembrih/Public Fireman Squad Zagreb

How are they dealing with the pandemic?

The ongoing pandemic has affected every line of work, if not all of them. Plexiglas became one of the most sought after materials. You couldn't buy a surgical mask anywhere. Not even the professionals for crises were unaffected by this, life-changing virus. Some of them even came in contact with the infected people: "Two of our firefighters are in isolation due to the exposure to coronavirus.", Mr. Jembrih explained. When the pandemic started, the professional firefighters also had some strict measures to avoid getting their squad infected: "We can't forget about coronavirus. We have strict measures of protection: everything from forbidding the entrance in the stations, measuring temperature, taking several vehicles on interventions, sending text messages with protection measures, and putting them on our radio connection as well." We already wrote about the spirit of Zagreb in these hard times, and how people went out on their balconies to give a round of applause to the people at the frontline. Mr. Jembrih said: "We are professionals, and it is our job to react in such moments, the support means a lot to us, and we're glad that we have it, but even if we didn't have, it wouldn't change a thing, we would continue to do our jobs regularly."  

Photo Credit: Siniša Jembrih/Public Fireman Squad Zagreb

It is fairly obvious how these events changed all of our lives, and how a certain time should pass before we get things back on track, and to how they were before. Until then, it's essential that all of us stay home, respect social distancing, and that we look after ourselves, and others. Be positive and stay negative. :) 

Header Image Credit: Siniša Jembrih/Public Fireman Squad Zagreb

Author: Tibor Trupec