Authorities alert residents and tourists to fire on the island of Brač

Rvery strong wind action with frequent change of direction have prevented firefighters, assisted by several firefighting planes of the type Canadair, from controlling this fire that broke out on Thursday night in the west of Brač, one of the largest islands of the Croatian Adriatic, off the city of Split.

After burning an area of about 3,000 hectares of pine forests and shrubs, the fire approached, on Saturday night, the dwellings of the town of Milna, which has about a thousand inhabitants.

“The fire is active near Milna. All teams are mobilized to prevent its spread to the inhabited areas”, indicated just before midnight the national fire department command on their website, adding that they have initiated the activation of the alert system of the population by telephone, without, however, referring to the organization of the withdrawal of the population at this stage.

About 180 firefighters, with about 50 vehicles, fought this fire on Friday and Saturday. Reinforcements of 44 firefighters and 16 vehicles were sent to the island overnight, authorities said.

Affected by various extreme heat waves and the lack of precipitation, like much of Europe, Croatia has lived a particularly dry summer, conducive to the spread of forest fires.

In mid-August, a violent fire devastated the region of the city of Omis, in the central area of the coast, causing a death and about forty wounded, of which about ten were in a serious state. Two other people died in the hospital the weeks after the fire.

In one night, this fire destroyed or damaged about 60 homes and residential buildings, dozens of cars and about 1,000 hectares of land. The damage was estimated at around EUR 110 million.