Of the four CL 415 Canadair aircraft used in the fire-fighting season, two are currently engaged in putting out fires, one is undergoing regular overhaul and will be in use again in the afternoon, while the fourth is being repaired due to a fault, but will be back in use on Wednesday, the ministry said in a statement, adding that oother Air Force aircraft were in working order and helping to put out bushfires along the coast.
Another 50 special police officers were sent from Zagreb to the Fire-fighting Operations Centre in Divulje today to be deployed along the coast and help resources on the ground in preventing and putting out fires, police chief Marijan Benko said, adding that the already strong presence of special police along the coast had resulted in the arrest of several fire-starters.
Benko assessed the current bushfire situation as serious, but under control.
He said that 750 fires had been recorded in the coastal area since June, of which 177 in Split-Dalmatia County. Police have arrested 12 people, including a 55-year-old man suspected of having started seven fires, of which one in Bosnia and Herzegovina that spread to Croatia.