Firefighters battle a massive blaze on the Island of Brač

The wildfire that broke out on the western end of the island of Brač on Thursday night remains active. The situation has improved significantly, but the fire - the largest in the area so far this year - has already burned more than 5,000 hectares of pine forest and scrubland.

Firefighters, assisted by water bombers, managed to prevent the flames from reaching homes around Milna. However, around 700 people were forced to evacuate. The commander of the Supetar Volunteer Fire Department Nikola Martinić Dragan: "When we arrived at the scene we had to push through the fire just to reach the structures we were trying to evacuate and protect. Ultimately, the best tactic proved to be keeping the people inside the buildings, sealing them up tight, and trying to defend the structure themselves. It was simply impossible to get them out, both because of the volume of smoke and the temperatures."

"The fire's perimeter is roughly thirty kilometers, and the entire area needs to be contained. So, the priority here was to save human lives, and only then worry about the houses," added Split-Dalmatia County Fire Chief Ivan Kovačević.

Meanwhile, national and local government officials held an emergency meeting with firefighting authorities to discuss the devastating wildfire on Brač. National Fire Chief Slavko Tucaković commended the massive contribution from aerial units: "Once again I want to thank everyone. The fact that our pilots flew 977 sorties and dumped 4,960 tons of water speaks volumes about their engagement in fighting this wildfire."

For Split-Dalmatia County Prefect Blažekno Boban it is clear that future action will be needed with regard to unkempt private plots of land that pose a continual threat: "I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart. As for the future, we will definitely have to look into more preventive measures. I am aware that much of this deals with private land, but we will have to look into legal frameworks into resolving these private parcels as well, because this is the primary problem."

Also on hand was Deputy Prime Minister and Veterans Affairs Minister Tomo Medved, who commented on future efforts aimed at prevention: "I am especially pleased that the Chief State Inspector is here with us today, who will give his contributions through the inspectorate's activities in terms of prevention and reducing risks. For example, on our way here today we saw that an old landfill was burning, and there are plenty such landfills on the island."

Source: HRT