Purger and Purgerica
From Fires to an Organised Fire Service
Throughout its history, Zagreb has suffered numerous devastating fires which, on several occasions, almost completely destroyed Gradec and Kaptol. For centuries, houses were built of wood, with thatched roofs, and stood close together, often with one leaning against another. It took only a single fire for the flames to become an unstoppable force within moments. And so Zagreb would burn every thirty years or so. Yet each time, it would rise from the ashes.
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One of the largest and most devastating fires broke out in 1645. It started in the house of Count Drašković after it was struck by lightning, and almost the entire Gradec was affected. The roof of St Mark’s Church was badly damaged.
Less than thirty years later, in 1674, another fire broke out in Gradec. This time, strong winds drove the flames onwards, and the fire spread to Kaptol. While houses were destroyed in Gradec, Kaptol suffered enormous damage, with the canons’ residences and the homes of serfs burnt down.
A third major fire occurred in 1706. The flames broke out in Opatovina and quickly spread throughout Kaptol. The Franciscan monastery and church were completely destroyed, while the interior of Zagreb Cathedral was also badly damaged, including the organ and part of the church furnishings.
The grim sequence continued at almost regular intervals.
The fire of 1731 once again engulfed Gradec, and the flames reached the interior of the Stone Gate, which was then the main entrance to the city. But this fire is remembered not only for the destruction it caused. It is also remembered for the ‘miracle in the ashes’.
After the fire had been extinguished, an untouched image of the Virgin Mary with Jesus was found among the burnt remains inside the gate. The wooden frame had been completely destroyed, but the image itself remained unharmed. The event was declared a miracle, and the widow Modlar had a Baroque altar built inside the gate itself. The city’s principal shrine still stands there today.
Then came 1880, forever etched in Zagreb’s history as the year of the great earthquake.
And as if one disaster were not enough, fires broke out in the Lower Town, which was rapidly developing at the time, as a result of collapsed chimneys and overturned stoves following the earthquake. The half-destroyed city was transformed into one vast scene of devastation.
How were fires fought before organised firefighting?
Long before Zagreb had an organised fire service, firefighting in Gradec and Kaptol was spontaneous, unorganised and based on the legal obligation of citizens.
Whenever bells rang from church towers or the city watchman sounded his horn, tradespeople and citizens were required to stop work and rush to the scene of the fire.
According to tradition, the main method of firefighting was to form human chains from the nearest well or stream to the site of the fire. Water was passed from hand to hand in leather, wooden or canvas buckets.
And once a fire had taken hold, there was little time to think. Wooden houses covered with thatch or shingles provided ideal fuel for flames that could spread at astonishing speed. Although there are no factual records to confirm it, it is believed that some buildings may have been pulled down to block the fire’s path.
In such a city, a fire was not merely an accident. It was a threat to the entire neighbourhood.
Organised Fire Services
Everything began to change when Zagreb acquired organised fire brigades.
The first voluntary firefighting organisation in Zagreb was established in 1869, while the first professional brigade, today’s Zagreb City Fire Brigade, was officially established on 1 October 1910.
More than a century ago, special monitoring stations, known as fire alarm stations, already existed at important locations throughout the city. From these stations, a fire could be reported to the fire station at any time of day or night.
Zagreb was divided into districts, and the location of a fire could be indicated using special optical signalling devices from the Lotrščak Tower at Dverce.
When the Zagreb Volunteer Fire Brigade moved to a new fire station on Savska cesta on 20 September 1909, serious consideration began to be given to establishing a permanent paid fire brigade.
From the very beginning, the organisation brought together around 100 volunteers. Its core consisted of Zagreb tradespeople – chimney sweeps, bricklayers, locksmiths, carpenters and joiners. Their professions meant that they knew houses, roofs and tools inside out. The knowledge they used in their everyday work was now being put to use to save other people’s lives and property.
The Most Successful Job Interview
And then, in the spring of 1932, one young man decided that he would not get a job as a firefighter by conventional means.
Twenty-six-year-old Mato Juričić, originally from Štinjan near Pula, had already been living in Zagreb without work for several months. His greatest ambition was to become a professional firefighter.
At the time, firefighters had to be in outstanding physical condition, exceptionally agile and fearless at heights. So Mato came up with a rather radical way of attracting attention to himself.
He climbed onto the cross atop the cathedral tower and began performing acrobatics. He balanced on the cross and performed a handstand, all in a strong, cold wind.
After this feat, he was given the nickname ‘Mato Katedralac’.
When he had finished his acrobatics and climbed down from the tower, the police were waiting for him on the ground and took him in for questioning. But when the commanders of the Zagreb fire service heard about his incredible feat of courage – or madness – they were amazed.
Mato got the job he had longed for. He spent the following decades working for the Zagreb Fire Brigade, where he proved to be an exceptionally capable and dedicated firefighter. Over time, his story of climbing the cathedral became a lasting part of Zagreb’s urban folklore.
Unusual Call-outs
Over time, firefighters became much more than a service that simply put out fires.
As they were the only organised service in the city equipped with ladders, ropes and training for working at heights, citizens and the police called on them for almost every kind of crisis and unusual situation.
Including the hunt for ‘Zagreb vampires’ and ghosts.
Of course, there were no vampires or ghosts. What frightened Zagreb’s residents at night were usually owls, stray cats or the wind moving old metal weather vanes on rooftops and creating eerie sounds.
Before police negotiators and air cushions existed, firefighters were the first line of defence when it came to preventing suicides in public places.
They were also called when drunk adventurers needed to be brought down from gas lamps and rooftops. Catching escaped circus animals was sometimes part of their job too, as was rescuing horses from ravines and canals into which they had fallen during the winter.
Whatever the situation, even today firefighters are the first people who come to mind when something unusual and unpredictable happens. Because when all other solutions fail, there is still their knowledge, courage, skill and equipment.