In less than 24 hours, two large fires occurred in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) – one in Banja Luka, the other in Gradacac.
The buildings of two companies, Elektrokrajina, a company for the distribution of electricity in the entity Republika Srpska (RS), and Kula, a textile industry factory, were on fire.
In both cases, the causes are still unknown. It is not known whether there were any omissions in the fire protection system.
The Law on Fire Protection and Firefighting of BiH stipulates that all legal and natural persons, state bodies and other institutions that are owners or users of buildings and spaces must take into account the location, materials and method of construction during the construction of the facility.
What happened in Gradacac and Banja Luka?
The fire in Gradacac broke out early in the morning on October 10th. Only porter Miroslav Mikic was in the company, who told that he first saw the smoke.
“The professional fire department arrived in ten minutes, and due to the size of the fire, firefighters from Srebrenik and Brcko participated in extinguishing it,” says Senad Vukovic, from the Civil Protection Service in Gradacac.
In the fire that happened at the Elektrokrajina company in Banja Luka the day before, a firefighter was injured, and eight people had breathing problems due to smoke inhalation.
What does the profession say?
The Federal Inspectorate for the supervision of the work of agencies and internal services for the protection of people and property and fire protection is responsible for the supervision of large production complexes, warehouses, terminals, and companies in which the Government of the Federation of BiH(FBiH) has a co-ownership share. Other business entities are under the jurisdiction of cantonal inspections.
According to Secerovic, the inconsistency of the legal regulations is reflected in the fact that certain cantons in the FBiH have only one fire protection inspector each.
The situation in RS
In the RS, the second BiH entity, the fire protection inspection supervises public, commercial, and communal enterprises and collective housing facilities, Radio Slobodna Evropa reports.
Photo: Klix.ba
