SPLIT, Aug 14 (Hina) - The fires which spread over a vast area in southern Croatia last weekend have been contained entirely, the chief commander of Croatian firefighting units, Mladen Jurlin, told reporters in Split on Tuesday.
Jurlin said it was unusual that all the fires which broke out along the Dalmatian coast last weekend broke out at the same time. "On Saturday morning, when the fires broke out, I flew over the entire area and saw with my own eyes, both in the Sibenik area and at Zrnovnica (near Split), a series of separate fires which, carried by the wind, became one blaze. All those fires broke out at the same time and in conditions which are ideal for fires. We cannot make any official claims although some suspects were arrested but they have been released due to lack of evidence," Jurlin said. Leo Tauber of the Split-Dalmatia County police department said the police were investigating the causes of th
SPLIT, Aug 14 (Hina) - The fires which spread over a vast area in
southern Croatia last weekend have been contained entirely, the
chief commander of Croatian firefighting units, Mladen Jurlin,
told reporters in Split on Tuesday.
Jurlin said it was unusual that all the fires which broke out along
the Dalmatian coast last weekend broke out at the same time.
"On Saturday morning, when the fires broke out, I flew over the
entire area and saw with my own eyes, both in the Sibenik area and at
Zrnovnica (near Split), a series of separate fires which, carried
by the wind, became one blaze. All those fires broke out at the same
time and in conditions which are ideal for fires. We cannot make any
official claims although some suspects were arrested but they have
been released due to lack of evidence," Jurlin said.
Leo Tauber of the Split-Dalmatia County police department said the
police were investigating the causes of the fires. It has been
established that the huge fire at Zrnovnica was caused by a flame or
embers, including those of a match.
Jurlin's assistant for the coastal area, Tomislav Vuko, said
firefighting units were much more efficient this summer than last
year. "Thanks to their efforts we have managed to save a large
number of houses and there were no casualties or seriously injured
in these disastrous fires, except for a soldier who was bitten by a
snake and has been hospitalised," Vuko said.
Niko Pudja, a Croatian Army official in charge of fires, said the
army was fighting fires with planes, ground forces and Croatian
Navy ships. A total of 800 members of guard brigades, five
canadairs, nine helicopters and three Croatian Navy ships were
battling the fires in the coastal area last weekend, he said.
The fires which raged in Dalmatia in the past three days have
consumed 2,000 hectares of land, several houses, sheep herds,
vineyards and olive groves in Zrnovnica alone. The damage caused by
fires in Sibenik-Knin County has not been estimated yet. The fires
which broke out on the island of Brac have consumed 400 hectares of
land.
(hina) rml