A cooperation agreement between the Baden-Württemberg Firefighting Association and the Croatian Firefighting Association was signed in Split on Thursday.

The document was signed by the president of the Baden-Württemberg Firefighting Association, Frank Knödler, the president of the Croatian Firefighting Association, Ante Sanader, and fire chief Slavko Tucakovic.

They discussed future cooperation within a project for a center for training operational forces at the Firefighting Center in Vucevica.

Frank Knödler, the president of the Baden-Württemberg Firefighting Association, said he was satisfied with the signed agreement, stressing that their long-standing cooperation, which will be structured and intensified, is now even stronger.

He said that due to climate change, the focus of their attention will be the protection of forests from fire, noting that in that regard, German firefighters can learn a lot from Croatian firefighters, who have exceptional experience. “That’s why we visited the airport with firefighting planes in Zadar yesterday,” Knödler said.

Split-Dalmatia County head Blazenko Boban said that based on the signed agreement, their colleagues from Germany will be permanent guests at the Fire Training Center in Vucevica during the summer, where they will gain experience in extinguishing forest fires.

He thanked them for the help they sent to Sisak-Moslavina County after the 2020 earthquake and said that on the occasion of opening the Fire Center in Vucevica, they would donate two special vehicles for the training of firefighters.

Chief fire commander Slavko Tucakovic is convinced that the Fire Station in Vucevica will become the central fire station of Southeast Europe, as well as a center of security in the hinterland of Split-Dalmatia County.

He also said that from the beginning of the year to the end of July, there were 3,099 outdoor fires, while in the same period of last year there were 8,156. In the first seven months of 2022, 55,350 hectares were consumed by fire, as against the same period this year, when 3,767 hectares burned down.