Last weekend, a massive fire occurred on the border between Slovenia and Italy. An immediate rescue operation was launched. Luckily, the intervention was merely an exercise, which took place as part of the Crossit Safer cross-border project.
The fire began on the Slovenian side of the Osim road, and then spread towards the Italian barracks on the other side of the border. The action took place as part of a Slovenian-Italian project and involved around 200 members of the fire and civil protection units.
The assumption of the exercise was that after a period of drought, a fire broke out in the border area between Slovenia and Italy (both on the Slovenian and Italian sides). The first unit leaders quickly realised on the spot that in the circumstances the fire was spreading unfavourablely at a very high speed towards the facilities, and swift assistance was needed from units neighbouring local communities, including cross-border communities.
The intervention was carried out in accordance with the protocol on the activation of cross-border aid which also happens to be the final objective of the project – an agreement to which the whole area is acceding along the entire border with the Republic of Italy and which, in the event of accidents in the common area, will facilitate the crossing of units across the border.
The international exercise took place as part of the final meeting of partners in the Crossit Safer project. The meeting lasted for two days. On Friday, in Bevk Square the partners organised an exhibition of equipment, which was purchased through the project, and in the afternoon, a conference was held at the premises of the Auditorium of Friuli Culture.
Operation co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund
