ZAGREB, Aug 15 (Hina) - There are grounds for suspicion that in 20 cases huge fires which hit Croatia in the last six weeks were deliberately set and police have apprehended a dozen persons suspected of arson.
ZAGREB, Aug 15 (Hina) - There are grounds for suspicion that in 20
cases huge fires which hit Croatia in the last six weeks were
deliberately set and police have apprehended a dozen persons
suspected of arson.#L#
The exact size of the area damaged by latest wildfires in three
southern Croatian counties is still unknown, but all these blazes
have been under control of fire-fighter since yesterday. What is
known is that unfortunately several houses, flocks of sheep and
some vineyards and olive-groves were burnt in those fires in the
areas of Sibenik and Split.
This July there were 339 blazes in forests and in the open in south
Croatia burning 1,184 hectares of the soil in comparison to last
year's July with 409 forest-fires when 2,552 hectares were burnt in
the coastal region.
The number of cases of arson fell by 27 percent to 22 cases this July
as against last July. In addition, there were 700 fires caused by
negligence or careless behaviour, or by 39 percent less than in July
2000.
The Croatian fire-fighting units' chief commander, Mladen Jurlin,
on Tuesday cautioned that there new wildfires might break out in
coming days but he declined a possibility that they might spread out
of control.
At yesterday's news conference Jurlin described the latest series
of fires as "quite unusual" given that they had broken out at
several sites at the same time. Such a situation raises doubt about
co-ordinated terrorist action.
Last summer there were also speculations that forest-fires were a
result of terrorist activities. Premier Ivica Racan and Interior
Minister Sime Lucin denied such allegations, explaining that the
most frequent cause of wildfires was the weather conditions marked
by high summer temperatures or negligence. PM Racan, however,
admitted that there were cases of arson but such fires were set by
mentally ill persons.
According to Interior Ministry's data, Croatia has now 55 public
professional units of fire-fighters and 1,752 voluntary fire-
fighting societies.
This year, four regional headquarters of special police units for
fighting fires were set up in coastal cities of Zadar, Sibenik,
Split and Dubrovnik. These are rapid reaction troops with 120 well-
trained professional fire-fighters on alert around the clock in
case their assistance is needed in worst cases of blazes.
Services for monitoring situation on the ground have also been
formed by the Croatian Forests company and local authorities in the
coastal region. In addition, some 700 voluntary fire-fighters are
employed with professional units on a part-time basis during
summer, as one of preventive measures.
(hina) ms