FAQ (frequently asked questions)

...our citizens are not very well acquainted with the work and activities of professional firefighters in Zagreb so whenever someone learns that I am a firefighter they often ask me a lot of weird and funny questions most frequent of which are:

1.Do you rescue cats from trees?

To which I answer: yes, and iguanas and monkeys.
And why?
Because a firefighter’s job is to rescue people, animals and property, not just to extinguish fires.

2. Does that exist here? I never actually thought about who does it!

To which I jokingly say: Well, here fires just extinguish themselves after a while!

 3. Don't you get bored when you're waiting for a fire?

No, because even though our shift last 12 hours we have many obligations, for example: the checking and maintenance of equipment and vehicles, cleaning the stations, classroom lectures, firefighting drills, physical exercise, various sports to stay in shape and so on...

4. Do you also go down that pole, why?

 Going down it is just a quicker way to get to the vehicles from the upper stores of the building. We have to be on our way to the fire from the station within 60 seconds from the time the fire is reported.

5. Do you work on Sundays and holidays?

Yes, because of the demands of our line of work we are on duty in four shifts. The shifts are rotated every 12 hours, that is one shift is on duty from 07:00 to 19:00 and then they are relieved until 19:00 the following day. They are then on duty from 19:00 until 07:00 after which this shift is off duty for the next 48 hours. This rotation is executed regardless of Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

Seeing how uninformed the people of Zagreb are, the members of this association, that is the professional firefighters of the City of Zagreb, will do their best to inform their citizens about this humane and very dangerous profession. In any case, the citizens, most of all our youngest citizens in day care and school facilities, should be educated regarding the causes and consequences of fires and other accidents.