A forest fire in Croatia, fueled by strong winds, struck the tourist town of Omiš overnight, engulfing homes, forcing around 1,000 people to evacuate and injuring dozens, the fire brigade and health officials said on Friday, UNN writes, citing Reuters.
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The flames engulfed settlements and trees across more than 1,000 hectares, turning the night sky red over Omiš, a picturesque town on Croatia’s famous Dalmatian coast, surrounded by trees and rocky hills.
Of the 36 people who received medical assistance from emergency services in the city of Split, about 25 km to the north, 14 were hospitalized, while seven sustained life-threatening injuries, health officials said.
Around 1,000 people were accommodated overnight in several towns along the stretch from Omiš to Split.
"It was a powerful fire; it swept away everything in its path... enormous material damage was caused," chief firefighter Slavko Tucaković said.
According to him, the fire appeared to have subsided on Friday morning, and there were no open flames. Some firefighting forces and four aircraft were redeployed to another fire farther south on the Pelješac peninsula, in a forested area known for its vineyards.
Local media reported that the country’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenković was heading to Omiš together with several government ministers.
Hot weather and drought, which scientists associate with climate change, have created ideal conditions for forest fires across Europe this summer, particularly in France, Spain and Greece. The Balkans have also experienced several heat waves.
The fires threatened tourism in the middle of the resort season. Hundreds of holidaymakers fled a coastal town in northern Greece by boat on Thursday as flames spread through the forest toward the shore.
In Croatia, 286 firefighters, 90 fire engines and four aircraft battled the blaze overnight, Tucaković said. A section of the main coastal highway was closed.
"Everything went up in flames instantly," Goran Lović, the owner of a café near the site where the fire broke out in Lokva Rogoznica, told the Jutarnji List newspaper.
"It happened suddenly; open flames appeared where there was forest and no houses," he said.
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