Kolekcionar vatrogasnog znakovlja

Do organizacije dobrovoljnog vatrogasnog društva u Brezju dolazi 1953. godine. Inicijatori su bili Franjo Horvat, Josip Medlobi, Stjepan Vidačić, Franjo Novosel, Martin Petričević te još neki drugovi iz našeg sela. Dvije godine prije osnutka DVD-a Brezje u Lopatincu je nekoliko Brezovčana pohađalo vatrogasni tečaj nakon kojeg su položili ispite (Ivan Horvat, Mijo Hren, Juraj Jalušić, Stjepan Mezga, Tomo Posedi, Josip Šafarić, Antun Trstenjak, Josip Turk, Rudolf Turk, Valent Turk, Vinko Vidović).

Službeni datum osnivanja je 2. veljače 1954. godine (registar – evidencija Vatrogasnog saveza Hrvatske). Pri osnivanju je bilo 36 osnivača i 7 utemeljitelja. U sedmom mjesecu iste godine na masovnom sastanku izabire se rukovodstvo i formira jedinica. Za prvog predsjednika izabran je Martin Petričević, za tajnika Stjepan Vidačić, prvi komandir jedinice bio je Stjepan Škrobar, a blagajnik Antun Trstenjak. Uz njih su još bili Franjo Horvat, Ivan Katanec, Mijo Fic, Josip Šafarić, Đuro Zadravec, Ivan Horvat, Ivan Buhanec, Valent Turk i Vinko Vidović. Jedinica je odmah krenula u nabavku najnužnijeg inventara. Vatrogasci nemaju uniforme, već samo kape. Održavaju se vježbe i zabave, skupljaju sredstva po selu radi nabavke najpotrebnijeg. Sljedeće godine naručene su uniforme, ali na veresiju (prve vatrogasne uniforme izradio je Rudolf Turk).

Godine 1956. uz puno financijskih teškoća kupljen je i agregat ''Savica'' (kapacitet 300 litara u minuti). Nešto cijevi poklonilo je bivše matično društvo Lopatinec pa su započele prve vježbe. Puno truda kod nabavke agregata uložili su Franjo Horvat, Antun Trstenjak, Juraj Zadravec, Stjepan Škrobar, Rudolf Turk i Martin Petričević. Zanimljiva priča vezana je uz dolazak agregata u Brezje (tada su dominirale ručne šprice). U Međimurje je stiglo dvanaest agregata (''Savica'') i jedan od njih je trebao doći u Brezje. Kad su agregati bili postavljeni u Čakovcu ispred Međimurske banke na popisu nije bilo Brezja. Tadašnji dužnosnik u DVD-u Brezje Franjo Horvat na svoju ruku je odlučio  u dogovoru s Antunom Trstenjakom (koji je imao kola) odvesti agregat u Brezje. Agregat je ostao u Brezju.

 U novim uniformama i s novim motornim agregatom (jedinim u okolici) Brezovčani su došli u Lopatinec na vatrogasnu vježbu. Pripremali su se u školskom dvorištu. Tada ih je pozvao Franjo Klobučarić da mu ispumpaju vodu iz podruma. Brezovčani su rado pomogli za što ih je domaćin nagradio pićem. Kad je započela vježba strojar Stjepan Toplek je uključio agregat bez problema, ali on nije vukao vodu. Brezovski vatrogasci bili su posramljeni i brzo ispraćeni iz Lopatinca. Što se dogodilo? Kad su Brezovčani ispumpavali vodu iz podruma tada je Martin Petričević, jedan od vatrogasaca u ekipi, uzeo korpu (sito) s cijevi. Crpka je povukla svo smeće koje je bilo na podu u podrumu tako da kroz crpku više nije mogla prolaziti voda. Greškom vatrogasaca prva demonstracija motorne štrcaljke završila je neslavno. No, štrcaljka je u Brezju očišćena i dalje je sve bilo u redu.

The organization of the voluntary fire brigade in Brezje took place in 1953. The initiators were Franjo Horvat, Josip Medlobi, Stjepan Vidačić, Franjo Novosel, Martin Petričević and some other comrades from our village. Two years before the founding of DVD Brezje in Lopatinec, several people from Brezovac attended a firefighting course after which they passed exams (Ivan Horvat, Mijo Hren, Juraj Jalušić, Stjepan Mezga, Tomo Posedi, Josip Šafarić, Antun Trstenjak, Josip Turk, Rudolf Turk, Valent Turk, Vinko Vidovic). The official date of establishment is February 2, 1954 (register - records of the Croatian Fire Brigade). There were 36 founders and 7 founders at the founding. In the seventh month of the same year, at a mass meeting, the leadership is elected and a unit is formed. Martin Petričević was elected the first president, Stjepan Vidačić secretary, Stjepan Škrobar the first commander of the unit, and Antun Trstenjak the treasurer. They were joined by Franjo Horvat, Ivan Katanec, Mijo Fic, Josip Šafarić, Đuro Zadravec, Ivan Horvat, Ivan Buhanec, Valent Turk and Vinko Vidović. The unit immediately started procuring the most necessary inventory. Firefighters do not have uniforms, only hats. Exercises and parties are held, funds are raised in the village to procure the most necessary. The following year, uniforms were ordered, but on verisimilitude (the first firefighting uniforms were made by Rudolf Turk). In 1956, with a lot of financial difficulties, the "Savica" unit was purchased (capacity 300 liters per minute). Some pipes were donated by the former parent company Lopatinec, so the first exercises began. Franjo Horvat, Antun Trstenjak, Juraj Zadravec, Stjepan Škrobar, Rudolf Turk and Martin Petričević put a lot of effort into the procurement of generators. An interesting story is related to the arrival of the unit in Brezje (then dominated by hand syringes). Twelve units ("Savica") arrived in Međimurje and one of them was to arrive in Brezje. When the generators were installed in Čakovec in front of Međimurska banka, Brezje was not on the list. The then official in the Brezje DVD, Franjo Horvat, decided to take the unit to Brezje in agreement with Antun Trstenjak (who had the car). The unit remained in Brezje. In new uniforms and with a new motor unit (the only one in the area), the people of Brezovci came to Lopatinec for a fire drill. They were preparing in the school yard. Then Franjo Klobučarić invited them to pump water out of his basement. The people of Brezovo gladly helped, for which the host rewarded them with a drink. When the exercise started, the engineer Stjepan Toplek turned on the generator without any problems, but he did not draw water. Brezovo firefighters were embarrassed and quickly escorted from Lopatinec. What happened? When the people of Brezovci were pumping water from the basement, Martin Petričević, one of the firefighters in the team, took a basket (sieve) from the pipe. The pump pulled out all the garbage that was on the floor in the basement so that water could no longer pass through the pump. By mistake of the firefighters, the first demonstration of the motor syringe ended ingloriously. However, the syringe was cleaned in Brezje and everything was still fine.