1st Pilot Implementation (2023)

Firefighting Training Centre, Šapjane, Rijeka, Croatia

Phase A – Educational Poster Exhibition in Rijeka, Croatia

SILVANUS has initiated the 2023 pilot trial period with the implementation of the Croatian pilot exercise on the 18th and 19th of April at the Training Centre of Šapjane (Municipality of Matulji), located approximately 20 kilometres from the City of Rijeka, and the educational poster exhibition in Rijeka itself.

The exhibition, organised by SILVANUS Partner Hrvatska vatrogasna zajednica (Croatian Firefighting Association), and sponsored by the City of Rijeka, took place on the main pedestrian street of Korzo in Rijeka, Croatia between the 3rd and 12th of April, 2023.

The exhibition featured 10 two-sided bilingual (Croatian and English) posters, focusing on:

🌳 The main activities and objectives of SILVANUS

🤝 Key messages and advice for citizens in the fight against extreme wildfire

📱 Annoucement of the citizen engagement mobile app

👩‍🚒 Description of Croatian Firefighting Association activities in SILVANUS

The formal opening of the exhibition was led by the Mayor of Rijeka Marko Filipović, the Deputy Prefect of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Vojko Braut, the Chief Firefighting Commander Slavko Tucaković, and the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Firefighting Commander Mladen Šćulac. 

Phase B – Firefighting Exercise and User Product Testing

The main organiser of the pilot exercise was the Croatian Firefighting Association, a member of the SILVANUS consortium, accompanied by SILVANUS partners 3MON, Catalink, ASFOR Romania, University of Applied Sciences Velika Gorica, RiniGARD, Micro Digital, and SILVANUS technical manager Krishna Chandramouli from Venaka TReLeaf.

The pilot exercise was introduced by Chief Firefighting Commander of the Croatian Firefighting Association Slavko Tucaković, the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Firefighting Commander Mladen Šćulac, the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Prefect Zlatko Komadina, and Head of Municipality Matulji Vedran Kinkela.

The exercise included the demonstration of edge (IoT) devices for fire detection by Catalink, the use of ground robots provided by 3MON and introduced by Simona Kalinovska, the use of Mesh in the Sky technology provided by RiniGARD to establish on-demand communication channels to transmit images/videos collected from remote locations, and the involvement of more than a hundred firefighters from the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County and the City of Zagreb.

An exercise of wildfire suppression was executed with the help of ground and air forces, use of video surveillance, unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), ground robots, with a special emphasis on modern satellite communication systems. The purpose was to verify the operations done by firefighting forces in an open space, applying various tactical approaches with the suppression of fire, checking whether the connection systems are functioning, as well as the overview of road network and its interconnectivity.

2nd Pilot Implementation (2024)

VACETRAS Firefighting Centre for Education and Technological Development, Split, Croatia

In the karst landscape of the beguiling Croatian region of Dalmatia, in the vicinity of the VACETRAS Firefighting Centre, SILVANUS platform was tested to its full potential on October 23rd, 2024. After the testing of the individual user products in 2023, the 2024 pilot was focused on the full testing of the platform.

The pilot fire simulation began with citizens reporting a fire incident through the SILVANUS citizen engagement app, followed by a fire detection through the IoT camera devices, the deployment of a drone for fire inspection, the assessment of health impact assessment by the air quality sensor to ensure a safe passage for firefighters or citizens, and finally a ground robot to extinguish the fire.

Forward command centres were established at the site in one of the fire engine vehicles, where the SILVANUS platform dashboard was installed to make swift decisions on the field for an efficient and timely deployment of manpower and technology. The platform could then determine and plan the evacuation routes for citizens and firefighters, model future fire spread, adjust the drone inspection flight plan, and much more. Multiple forward command centres can also communicate with each other on the field.

Thank you to SILVANUS partner Croatian Firefighting Association, and the Fire Brigades of Split-Dalmatia County for organising a successful implementation and testing of the fully integrated SILVANUS wildfire management platform, on Sustainability Day and on the eve of the International Day for Climate Action! The platform is now in its full swing, and will hopefully contribute significantly to more efficient wildfire management in EU countries and beyond.