Southern Europe is suffering from heat and drought. Forest fires are breaking out again and again. On the Croatian Adriatic coast, parts of a nature park are now in flames – presumably due to negligence. Tourists and residents have been evacuated.
In the Croatian coastal region of Central Dalmatia, several forest and bush fires have caused considerable damage. Hundreds of firefighters were deployed. According to the local fire service, the situation was most critical during the night around the towns of Podgora and Tucepi on the Makarska Riviera.
In the uphill part of Podgora, the fires reached up to 20 meters from the first houses, reported the local newspaper “Slobodna Dalmacija”. More than 300 firefighters with 70 emergency vehicles and firefighting aircraft prevented houses from burning down.
Several dozen tourists and residents were brought to safety. In the morning, the fire department described the situation as largely under control.
The situation is better at all fire sites, wrote the Croatian Fire Brigade Association HVZ on X. The fire brigade was on duty all night to protect buildings. The calming of the wind is helping, but there is still a lot of smoke.
Inaccessible mountain area also affected
According to the authorities, the fire broke out as a result of the negligence of a local resident in the Biokovo Nature Park, which stretches in the mountains above Podgora and Tucepi. 400 hectares of vegetation were burned down, they said. The Biokovo Nature Park is considered unique in Croatia because 1,500-meter-high mountains reach close to the coast. The area is popular with hikers.
Another fire kept the fire brigade busy in Vrsine, 30 kilometres west of Split, Croatia's second largest city. In an inaccessible mountain area, around 500 hectares of forest, bushes and meadows were engulfed in flames. Around 60 firefighters with 18 emergency vehicles were active there, media reports said.
Forest and bush fires are common in Croatia in summer. They are also now being exacerbated by the ongoing drought.
