When a fire breaks out, the lives of citizens and their property are in the hands of firefighters. They go to the first line of fire defense, risking their own lives, and the least they need then is outdated equipment. Although they do one of the most stressful jobs, which also has consequences for their mental health – they do not ask for decorations and posters for their courage and sacrifice. Quality equipment with which they can save lives is enough for them.
Firefighter Zlatan Hadžiabdić has been doing one of the most stressful jobs for 30 years – saving citizens and their property. This job, which is not only a fight with fire and a race against time, leaves life scars. But every successful action makes all that was ugly be forgotten.
“Firefighters face everything. Two or three days ago we saved one bird – to big fires, traffic accidents. The range of our activities is wide. We also have two volunteer fire brigades in the city. I would invite all the youth, whoever can, to apply – both for the eventuality of today and tomorrow and for the professional unit, and also for the activism and volunteerism itself,” says Hadžiabdić, who is also a commander in PVJ Tuzla.
However, good will and courage are not enough in this job, because the success of a firefighter’s work depends on the quality of equipment and vehicles. The Tuzla professional fire department received a new vehicle, domestically produced, worth 540 thousand marks.
“I can freely say that we got a modern vehicle according to European standards, and the last new vehicle we got was about 15 years ago. In the course of this year, we expect another new fire engine like this, and that tells you enough about the attitude of the City Administration, i.e. the City Headquarters towards the Professional Fire Department”, said Jasmin Jahić, elder of PVJ Tuzla.
Suad Bešlić is the owner of a company for the production of fire engines: “There are only two companies in Europe that make this type of vehicle. It is of high quality, with 4,000 liters of water, a combined tank of 4,000 liters of foam, a pump of 2,000 liters per minute, a light pole, storm winches, isolation devices… Everything a vehicle needs for an intervention – this has it”.
Considering the terrain in Tuzla, and having learned the lessons from 2020, when a large fire engulfed the Ilinčica picnic area, which had to be extinguished manually and from a helicopter due to the impossibility of vehicle access, the Civil Protection City Headquarters will go in the direction of procurement and equipment for such terrains.
“In the coming period, we will take another fire brigade. That’s the forest fire vehicle. So that people don’t have to carry backpacks of 10-20 liters and return twenty times, we will be able to bring 200 liters of water to the spot with that quad bike. This way we will save 20 firefighters from suffering up and down”, explains Suad Mustajbašić, commander of the Special Mixed Unit Tuzla.
“We know that they are always the first to come out whenever anyone needs it. And they deserve to be equipped, to have the best and most modern equipment, and that will certainly be our commitment in the future as well,” said the mayor of Tuzla, Zijad Lugavić.
The members of the Tuzla Professional Fire Department, happy about the purchase of a new vehicle, still wanted only one thing. To use the vehicle as little as possible and to have fewer interventions, Federalna writes.
