Fire at Karlovac paint and lacquer warehouse contained

A fire that broke out early Monday morning at the Nova Chem paint and lacquer warehouse in Karlovac’s Mala Švarča area has been contained.

The fire triggered the public warning system, and residents were urged to close their windows and stay away from the site. Because water used to extinguish the fire flowed into the Mrežnica River, swimming has been temporarily banned in the Mrežnica and Korana rivers, including the Foginovo swimming area near Karlovac.

"Our entire warehouse burned down. It was our livelihood. The damage is total. We have no idea what happened. I can't even begin to guess what might have caused it," said company owner Inga Premec-Bekić.

"It was a challenging and difficult operation because the roof is made of tin and the fire was spreading very quickly. We only managed to stop it about halfway across, so on the north side, the damage to these two businesses is total," said Miroslav Rade, commander of the Karlovac Fire Department.

Karlovac Deputy Mayor Ivana Fočić, who also heads the local civil protection service, said authorities immediately issued a public warning after learning of the fire.

"We advised people to keep their windows and doors closed and shut off any ventilation systems. We also urged people near this location not to go outdoors unless necessary, until the situation is resolved," she said.

The Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Public Health Bureau measured air quality to check for pollution following the fire.

"According to the initial, rough assessment, there is nothing to cause alarm because the chemicals we would expect to find here—solvents such as benzene, xylene and toluene—did not appear in our measurements. However, we will conduct additional measurements at several locations across the city. Those samples will also be tested in a laboratory. But for now, nothing has been detected at alarming concentrations," said Dinko Puntarić of the Karlovac County Public Health Bureau.