90% of wildfires in Croatia caused by people – plea from forest management

(Illustration)

ZAGREB, 10 Aug (Hina) – The Croatian forest management company, Hrvatske Šume (HŠ) has called on citizens and tourists to behave responsibly and to call 193 or 112 if they notice any smoke, adding that 90% of wildfires are caused by humans.

“Just one conscious act of taking care of how one behaves in the vicinity of forests can mean more than a series of year-round wildfire prevention measures, which could be seen by the devastating wildfires that ravaged everything in front of them in recent weeks.

An unextinguished beekeeper’s smoke, a signal rocket fired on land while socialising on a boat and glass remnants left behind can burn dry vegetation with the sun’s rays, are just some of the triggers of this year’s wildfires that can be reduced to one common denominator: human negligence,” HŠ said in a press release.

HŠ underlined that only the wildfire that has been prevented can be “extinguished” in time, adding that as many as 90% of wildfires are caused by people.

€16 million invested in fire protection, 220 cameras distributed in 110 locations in forests

Almost €16 million is being invested in fire protection this year. However, HŠ underlined that no technology can replace a moment of carelessness and that 30 days without rain, along with stormy winds and high temperatures also threatened houses.

HŠ added video surveillance equipment with smoke and fire detection and a fire spread simulator were installed from 2022 to 2025 enabling even better action in cooperation with civil protection operational forces, especially the Croatian Fire Brigade.

There are 220 cameras spread over 110 locations in the forests, which is an increase of about 60% compared to last year.

During the fire fighting season, almost 200 additional temporary workers are employed to reduce the response time for any possible smoke observed. In addition, 72 agreements were signed with Voluntary Fire Brigades, with HŠ participating in finance monitoring and on-call activities.

In the past three years, 320 kilometres of new fire access roads were built, while the 2,600 existing ones are maintained throughout the year, along with fire stations.