In the summer of 2015, a fire affected huge areas of forests and pastures in the Bosansko Grahovo Municipality, causing material damage in many settlements, especially in the village of Korita.
As the Municipality did not have a fire protection plan or equipment for the initial firefighting, the residents of the village of Korita united on their own initiative to protect people and property, to try to stop the fire in an organized way and “save what could be saved” are the words of the president of the Voluntary Fire Brigade Korita from Bosansko Grahovo, Ivica Ivanović.
It was from this natural disaster that the initiative to establish the first voluntary fire brigade with the aim of fire protection in the Bosansko Grahovo Municipality originated.
DVD Korita is registered and has been operating since November 18, 2015. The mission is to eliminate the causes of fires and other disasters, creating conditions for quality and safe life in the area of Bosansko Grahovo with an emphasis on involving as many citizens as possible, especially young people in their activities.
Within the project “Strengthening the capacity of DVD Korita”, the voluntary fire brigade from Bosansko Grahovo was strengthened by procuring a nozzle that will increase the level of safety for members of the society and facilitate future interventions in inaccessible terrains and firefighting. The nozzle with a winch is a part of the equipment that can be installed on a suitable vehicle depending on the needs in the field and intervene in a short time and protect property and people, which is the mission of their volunteerism. As a contribution to the project, DVD Korita procured ten pairs of fire boots for the members from their own funds, and the total value of the project “Strengthening the capacity of DVD Korita” is 10,742.25 BAM.
In the past six years, DVD Korita, through its work, commitment and assistance in firefighting in other municipalities, but also across borders, has made many friends and established cooperation and strengthened its capacity. Croatian fire brigades donated initial firefighting equipment, fire extinguishers, helmets and boots. From DVD Oprtljaj from Istria they received the first naval vehicle, from the Zadar Public Unit they received the second vehicle, and DVD Kaštel Gomilica donated a vehicle with a volume of 12,000 liters which also serves to supply the population with drinking water because water reductions and shortages are common in this Municipality, but it also helps them to bring more water to the needed place.
With the financial help of friends, volunteers from Treviso, Italy, the Korita Voluntary Fire Brigade bought a family house in Bosansko Grahovo and is in the process of forming a fire station that has been partially renovated, arranged and equipped to store equipment and vehicles.
By strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations and involving community actors in solving local problems, we encourage joint work on local development and promote positive examples of social engagement in communities.
The project “Strengthening the capacity of DVD Korita” of the Voluntary Fire Brigade “Korita” from Bosansko Grahovo was realized within the project “Local Works – Together for Local Development” implemented by the Center for Civic Cooperation Livno and the Association of Citizens “Grahovo” from Bosansko Grahovo with the support of the United States Agency for International Development – USAID.
