The volunteer Fire Brigades held an initial meeting on establishing the Association of Volunteer Firefighting Brigades of Boka. The initiative came from the Protection and Rescue Service Tivat, and DVV Tivat with the goal to improve cooperation and organization of the fire societies, as well as to preserve the environment of Boka Kotorska.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Tivat Volunteer Fire Society (DVV), as well as DVD Krtoli and DVD Luštica, and the Service expects all Bokelian volunteer fire brigades to join the association. Commander of the Protection and Rescue Service (SZS) Zoran Barbić was previously the commander of the Volunteer Fire Brigade Krtoli for ten years. He said for TMN that this initiative is not new:
“This is the idea that I have been thinking of for some time, because my experience with voluntary work has shown me that the Firefighting Association of Montenegro should have the combination of voluntary fire brigades, but from the entry into force of the Law of Protection and Rescue in 2007, the volunteer fire brigades have to lean on the work of Protection and Rescue Services. However, as Security and Rescue Services have even more complex work and the need for new tools and equipment, which is very expensive, it is difficult to finance all of it, because the needs of DVDs are very large. Given that Europe highly values volunteer work, and in addition, we are a state that protects the environment, I thought there was room for the creation of an association that would have over 100 volunteers and could apply for international means, in order to provide a significant part of the funding through them.
It is very good to have all these societies at the Boka level, which are also, besides the mentioned, in Perast, Bijela and one establishing these days in Sutorina, but they need someone to coordinate them, so that they would relate, highlight their problems and be able to train in order to respond to a lesser intervention, because according to the Law on Protection and Rescue we have no opportunity to engage them in more complex ones. All of them must complete the basic course of fire protection to be able to activate in all areas of potential fire and they also need a lot of equipment, which is very expensive. Just one set of equipment for one firefighter costs about 2500 euros. None of the local municipalities can afford such means. We must have an insight into their capacities each moment, so the coordination should be at the highest level and the final aim is to bring the fire safety to a higher level. Apart from that, it is also the protection of the environment, our coastline and all the rest. We also need to engage more young people in this kind of work, because the brigades must be renewed and we must also highlight preventive activities.”
Commander of the Volunteer Fire Brigade DVD Krtoli Milan Vukošić thinks that the Association is a very good idea, especially because of the opportunity to apply for funds for IPA projects and getting the means for the needed equipment and training: "Anyway, we definitely need to be organized better. The more of us there are, the better we'll be. DVD Krtoli will definitely join the association." Commander of DVD Luštica Nikola Trojanović told us that the Brigade Management Board is going to decide whether to join the Association or not.
DVV Tivat commander, Dragan Franović said that he is glad that the representatives of DVD Luštica and DVD Krtoli came to the meeting.
“All the volunteer fire brigades are more than welcome to join the association, which would be a very good thing for Boka as a whole,“ he concluded.
