Saved Dom pod Storžičem from Fire

At Dom pod Storžičem, a fire drill in case of a fire in a mountain hut took place on October 16, 2021, involving 85 firefighters from 14 fire units from Gorenjska with 18 vehicles. With this demonstration exercise, organized by the Firefighters' Association and the Alpine Association of Slovenia at the initiative of the organizers of the Clean Our Mountains campaign - Triglav Insurance Company, they wanted to draw attention to the importance of fire safety in mountain huts, three of which have been completely destroyed by fire in recent years. A shelter has been set up next to the former Kocbekov dom na Korošici, Frischaufov dom na Okrešlju is already getting its final exterior shape, and the construction of the new Mozirska koča na Golteh is also beginning.



The fire started in the ceiling of the attic of Dom pod Storžičem in a room with shared beds. Due to the ignition of soot in the chimney, the chimney wall overheated, causing the wooden ceiling structure next to the chimney to ignite. The ignition of the ceiling structure occurred at 10:50, smoke and fire were detected by those present at the location at 10:58, the hut staff responded immediately, and at 10:59 they notified the Kranj regional notification center on number 112 about the fire, the manager with the help of some present tried to extinguish the fire with a manual fire extinguisher, and they also took care of evacuating people from the building. They managed to temporarily somewhat suppress the fire, but they did not succeed in extinguishing it completely. Therefore, by the time the fire units arrived, it spread throughout the room, engulfed part of the attic and the wooden roof above the room, and at the same time spread through the cracked window glass to the wooden facade and eaves on the southern part of the building. During the extinguishing of the building, the northwest wind carried glowing particles into the forest, resulting in the ignition of dry undergrowth and a small forest fire about 50 meters from the building.

The demonstration fire exercise Mountain Hut 2021 was carried out by the Firefighters' Association (GZ) Tržič in cooperation with the Firefighters' Association Gorenjska, the exercise leader was the commander of GZ Tržič Jani Žlindra, and the intervention leader was the deputy commander of GZ Tržič Uroš Bodlaj. It involved 85 female and male firefighters from all nine Volunteer Fire Departments (PGD) in GZ Tržič, two PGD from GZ Naklo, one each from GZ Radovljica and GZ City Municipality Kranj, and the Kranj Fire Rescue Service with a tanker truck. Before the exercise, there was a consultation for managers on fire safety in mountain huts at Dom pod Storžičem (PD Tržič).

"I personally assess that today's exercise, which we organized in the Firefighters' Association Tržič in cooperation with the Firefighters' Association Gorenjska, was successfully carried out. It showed the professional competence of firefighters, which is important in such fires," evaluated the fire exercise Tomaž Vilfan, commander of the Firefighters' Association Gorenjska and regional commander. He also presented the difficulties firefighters face in such fires, such as accessibility, remoteness, and limitation of water quantity: "Such interventions - fires in mountain huts - pose a great challenge for firefighters. The biggest problem is timely detection of the fire. If someone is present in the hut in this case, they can already prevent the spread of the fire; if they cannot do so, the essential time is when the firefighters will be notified. There are many cases where someone only notices from the valley that a fire has started, and by then practically everything is already lost. The time from the start to the detection of the fire is a factor from the perspective of fire development that tells in what extent the fire is at discovery. The response time of firefighters from fire detection, reporting to 112, alarming firefighters, departure, to arrival at the scene can be very long mainly due to remoteness and accessibility with fire vehicles, and in many cases with high-mountain huts, access with fire vehicles is almost impossible.
The supply of water for extinguishing is difficult at mountain huts. In most cases, there is only as much as the firefighters bring with them, water sources are usually quite distant from the huts, and in these cases, it is necessary to establish water supply, which again requires time, necessary equipment (pipes, portable motor pumps or fire vehicles with water), in addition, temperatures can be much lower than in the valley, which affects work with water."

That fires in mountain huts are not uncommon was reminded by Darko Muhič, deputy commander of the Firefighters' Association of Slovenia, as Dom na Osankarici is already the fourth hut destroyed by fire in the mountain world in recent years, and visitors to the mountains in the area of Kamniško-Savinjske Alpe have been left without three mountain huts due to destructive fires. On February 24 this year, a fire completely destroyed Mozirska koča na Golteh, one of the oldest huts in our country, on October 20, 2017, the renovated Kocbekov dom na Korošici burned to the ground due to a mistake by a Polish woman who wanted to heat water in the mountain room but mistakenly put kerosene on, Frischaufov dom na Okrešlju, which burned to the ground on November 6, 2019 - it had been renovated only a few months before - was destroyed by flames due to a fault in the electrical wiring.

"Most mountain huts are closed outside the season and without the presence of people who could act in case of fire. The buildings do not have built-in self-extinguishing systems. A large part of mountain buildings is wooden and consequently quickly flammable. In many huts, there are old or worn-out electrical wiring and less suitable heating devices. The problem is also that near the huts, especially the harder-to-reach ones, there is no fire infrastructure and sufficient quantity of water with which a possible fire could be tamed. There have already been cases where huts burned due to forest fires, for example, in the great forest fire of 1950, Mozirska koča burned for the first time. Initial fires in huts occur, but they are usually quickly extinguished," said Muhič and highlighted the importance of fire prevention measures, and in mountain buildings, it is additionally necessary to ensure the installation of less fire-hazardous electrical and other devices, regular maintenance and supervision. Non-flammable materials must be installed near fireplaces or parts of buildings where open fire is used, and chimneys must be repaired and regularly cleaned.

"In recent years, three mountain huts have burned down, which obliges us to even greater activity to improve fire safety in mountain huts. In the AAS, we have already carried out certain activities, namely the inclusion of fire safety in the training of hut keepers and managers and at annual conferences of mountain economy, partnership with the Clean Our Mountains campaign of Triglav Insurance Company in equipping huts with automatic fire extinguishing ampoules, and the initiative to include fire safety measures among eligible costs of the MGRT tender for mountain huts," emphasized the general secretary of the Alpine Association of Slovenia Damjan Omerzu and provided instructions for mountain visitors: "We warn visitors to mountain huts, winter rooms, and bivouacs that smoking is prohibited in all rooms of the mountain hut, cooking in bedrooms, and using open fire in all rooms of the mountain hut. In case of fire, it is important to remain calm. If we are not in danger, we try to limit or extinguish the fire with available means, such as water, blanket, lid, etc., or with a fire extinguisher. If we cannot extinguish the fire ourselves, we withdraw to safety as soon as possible. We immediately notify the firefighters about the fire on number 112 and report who is calling, where it is burning, what is burning, what is the extent of the fire, whether people and animals are endangered."

Omerzu also listed measures to ensure fire safety in mountain huts carried out by hut managers, namely: monitoring the expiration dates of fire extinguishers, regular inspections and cleaning of chimney and heating devices, organization and supervision of evacuation exercises, training of staff in huts for fire protection, checking and measuring the condition of emergency lighting, care for arranged and freely passable evacuation routes, carrying out daily supervision of the condition of electrical wiring and devices, storage of gas cylinders and storage of flammable liquids in suitable rooms, separated from heat sources or ignition sources, regular inspections of equipment intended for fire protection, and ensuring compliance with fire regulations, also by visitors.

The current state of reconstruction of burned mountain huts was presented by Dušan Prašnikar, professional associate of the Alpine Association of Slovenia. Next to the former Kocbekov dom na Korošici, a shelter made of containers has been set up, which also offers basic supply with drinks and food during the summer mountain season. This year, the association arranged sanitation and self-sufficient electricity supply via photovoltaic panels, but the construction of the new hut is delayed due to the association's focus on the hut at Okrešelj. "Frischaufov dom na Okrešlju is already getting its final exterior shape. In the fall, the building will already be closed, with the roof installed and windows fitted, in the autumn-winter period, rough installation works inside will continue, and in the spring, the remaining installation works and gradual arrangement of rooms. Despite a small delay in the timeline, the Alpine Association Celje Matica plans to open the new hut in the fall of 2022," said Prašnikar and highlighted the importance of the Slovenian Army for the successful progress of construction, which helps with helicopter transport of bulkier and heavier cargo from the valley to Okrešelj. For visitors, a wooden cabin is set up nearby, offering basic supply.

"The construction of the new Mozirska koča na Golteh is also beginning, as after obtaining the building permit, the foundation concrete has already been arranged. This year, works up to the first load-bearing slab are planned, and the opening of the hut is planned for the fall of 2022. The Alpine Association Mozirje, which is the owner and investor, has already collected almost 100,000 euros in donor funds. For visitors, a wooden cabin with basic supply is set up nearby," presented Prašnikar and added that both PD Mozirje and PD Celje Matica were successful in the tender of the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology for support of mountain sports and recreational infrastructure, through which both obtained the highest possible amount, 300,000 euros, and for the reconstruction of both huts, anyone can still help with a financial donation to the associations.

The initiative for organizing the fire exercise was given by Triglav Insurance Company in the 12th season of the Clean Our Mountains campaign. "Mountain huts and homes are particularly exposed to the danger that an initial fire spark flares up into a large fire that cannot be controlled. Therefore, we have placed fire safety in the mountains among the key emphases of the Clean Our Mountains campaign. At the beginning of this year's season, we thus gave the initiative for organizing a fire exercise in a mountain hut and we are glad that at the end of the season at Dom pod Storžičem we could contribute to the fire exercise, in which as many as 85 firefighters participated," explained Mihaela Perčič, director of the Kranj Regional Unit at Triglav Insurance Company.

Through the Clean Our Mountains campaign, Triglav Insurance Company has, for the second year in a row this year, in cooperation with the Alpine Association of Slovenia and the company Bonpet, also carried out a tender for greater fire safety of mountain huts and homes. In two seasons, they have thus equipped more than 80 mountain huts with automatic fire extinguishing ampoules or automatic fire extinguishers, which extinguish initial fires and represent a welcome additional protection in the first, most important minutes of facing a fire.