Wildfires in Croatia 98% Smaller than Last Summer

A huge reduction in wildfires this summer

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković says that lessons from last year, when devastating fires raged on the coast, have been learned. 

So far this year there have 75% fewer wildfires than in the same period of last year with the area consumed by wildfires was 98% smaller than in 2017. 

“We have learned a lesson from the situation in 2017,” Plenković said, adding that caution needs to still be taken for the remainder of the fire season.

Last July hundreds of firefighters, volunteers, and members of the army had to battle a number of divesting fires which raged in the Split-Dalmatia County on Croatia’s Dalmatian coast. 

Fires raging near Split last summer (Photo: 24sata.hr/Reader)

Plenković believes that a combination of new measures to improve fire protection and weather conditions have helped with the significant drop in the number of wildfires this summer. 

“Plenkovic said that the establishment of the main operational firefighting command at Divulje had contributed to the decrease in the number of wildfires,” Hina reported. 

The PM promised more funds to even further improve firefighting abilities in 2019. 

“The rate of cases solved has gone up 24%, and charges have been pressed against 26 people,” said Interior Minister Davor Bozinović. 

One of the only serious wildfires this season broke out near Omiš earlier this month when 156 firefighters from 26 stations had to battle a blaze for a number of hours.