Kochani, 27 March 2025 (MIA) — Three firefighters suffered burns and smoke inhalation injuries battling the Kochani nightclub fire on March 16 and Kochani Fire Department chief Dragan Apostolov has been receiving medical care at the Skopje Toxicology Clinic after being admitted with respiratory damage, MIA's Kochani correspondent reports.

Despite the inadequate staffing and old equipment kept in service far past its prime, the local firefighters did their best to put out the fire. They were helped by volunteers and firefighters from the Vinica, Shtip, Probishtip and Sveti Nikole fire departments. 

According to Apostolov, who is recovering and should be discharged from hospital next week, the Kochani Fire Department has been understaffed for years.

In these first two and a half months of 2025 alone, Kochani firefighters intervened 58 times, putting out forest fires, field fires and house fires as well as providing help in serious traffic accidents. Yet, although there should be 33 firefighters on staff for the territory they cover — Kochani, Zrnovci and Cheshinovo-Obleshevo — there are 16, the fire chief said.

"We work with 45 percent of what is prescribed in the Rulebook on Firefighting," Apostolov said. "One person does the work of two people, and the average age of our firefighters is 48 years. Our vehicle fleet is old, purchased mainly through donations, and the Municipality of Kochani can barely provide maintenance, let alone new vehicles, equipment and footwear."

The Volunteer Fire Department head Zlatko Iliev told MIA's correspondent that the Pulse nighclub did not have the correct firefighting equipment to put out the fire quickly.

"The fire extinguisher seen in one of the videos used to put out the initial blaze is inadequate. It is intended for fires involving live electrical equipment, and not the kind that happened in Pulse. If that extinguisher had been powder, at least it would have slowed the spread of the fire and given much more time to the young people to evacuate," he said.

Iliev also said the local population were largely unaware of fire safety basics. This was another reason for the tragic consequences, he said.

"People at the nightclub are not taking the danger seriously at first. Instead of heading for the exit, they are filming with their mobile phones," Iliev said, adding that this revealed their "ignorance and lack of education." 

Fire hazards should be taken seriously in the future, he said, and people should be taught the basics of fire safety.

The personal tragedies after the Kochani fire are immense. Firefighters, too, have family members who were injured or died. Antovi, a married couple who are members of the Kochani Volunteer Fire Department, lost their only daughter. ta/mr