“The System Works”: Dalmatian Fire Department Fights Blazes in Little ‘Fićo’ Car

We’ve all been witnessing the incredible bravery and incessant efforts of Croatian firefighters in the last few days during the horrifying catastrophe in Dalmatia. Since the beginning of this summer, a lot has been written about the unbelievable conditions they’re working in: their equipment is outdated, some of their fire engines more than 30 years old, and still they march on and don’t stop until the job is done.

We wrote about a particular case of firefighters begging the local authorities for new equipment after they successfully defended the Makarska riviera from a threatening blaze earlier in June. This is only one in a sea of departments low on funds and equipment, and all their desperate enquiries keep falling on deaf ears.

Another incredible case comes from Omiš, where the local fire department in the village of Kučiće currently uses a fićo – a small, run-down little car manfuactured by Fiat that got its nickname due to being popular in these parts back in the 70s and the 80s. The Kučiće fire department was founded in 1987, and judging by this photo, it seems they haven’t been helped much since when it comes to funding.

The red fićo might be the tiniest fire engine in Croatia at the moment. How long does it have to pass before things turn for the better? How much land needs to burn down in flames before the governing bodies decide to direct a part of the public budget towards the – excuse the choice of words, but in this case it seems to be quite literal – burning issue everybody keeps ignoring until it’s too late?

Sustav funkcionira pic.twitter.com/pfIVQpghn3

— Edis Jasarevic (@EdisPG) July 18, 2017

They say a photo is worth a thousand words, and in this case, the saying proves to be quite accurate. Especially followed by this bitter, ironic caption posted on Twitter that really drives the point home: a quote of our PM Plenković, who stated that “the system works”. Let’s leave it at that.

 

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