Zagreb: Nineteen people were injured as a massive wildfire swept through wooded and residential areas in southern Croatia’s Split-Dalmatia County on the Adriatic coast, the Croatian Firefighters Association said Friday.
The fire broke out late Thursday in Lokva Rogoznica, near the coastal town of Omis, and quickly spread through grass, low vegetation and pine forest. The blaze approached residential buildings, with flames soon reaching several nearby settlements and destroying houses.
Around 1,000 people were evacuated from affected areas overnight, local authorities said.
More people are expected to evacuate across the affected areas, Omis Mayor Zvonko Mocic said, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The fire, which erupted at around 8:21 pm local time (1821 GMT) on Thursday in nearby Lokva Rogoznica, advanced overnight into the upper parts of Omis, directly threatening numerous houses and vehicles, Croatia’s Hina news agency reported, quoting Viseslav Pesic, commander of the Omis Voluntary Fire Department.
Several houses and numerous vehicles were destroyed by the flames, and up to 1,000 hectares of land burned near Omis, said Slavko Tucakovic, the country’s chief fire commander.
Several roads in the area were closed due to the wildfire, disrupting traffic along the coast.
As of Friday morning, 286 firefighters and 93 fire engines were battling the blaze, with reinforcements sent from several counties.
The destructive blaze comes amid a prolonged summer heatwave and severe drought across Croatia. Weeks of extreme temperatures have left vegetation tinder-dry, sharply increasing the risk of wildfires along the vulnerable Adriatic coast.
On Wednesday, Split, which is the second-largest city in Croatia, recorded its highest-ever air temperature, with temperatures reaching 39.7 degrees Celsius at 2 pm local time (1200 GMT), according to the Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service. The reading surpassed the previous record of 39.5 degrees Celsius, set on June 30 this year.
In eastern Croatia, rivers including the Danube and Drava have fallen to their lowest levels due to scarce rainfall and reduced snowmelt from the Alps. Persistent low river levels have disrupted cargo shipping on the rivers.
According to the Croatian Firefighting Association, the number of open-air fires was about 13 per cent higher than in the same period last year.
