Firefighters battle multiple wildfires near Croatia-Montenegro border

A wildfire in the Konavle area, near Croatia’s border with Montenegro, was brought under control on the Croatian side at around 8 p.m. on Tuesday, while it remains active in Montenegro.

Another fire that broke out overnight near Župa Dubrovačka was quickly contained, the Croatian Firefighting Association (HVZ) reported, CE Report quotes FENA.

As previously reported, the Konavle fire started in Montenegro on Monday and spread across the border into Croatia, reaching Bjelotina Hill above the village of Bani in the Konavle region.

The blaze affected grassland, low vegetation, and maquis shrubland across nine hectares of difficult-to-access terrain. Firefighting efforts involved 16 firefighters with five fire engines from Dubrovnik, Konavle, and Čilipi, supported by two Canadair aircraft and one Air Tractor. Overnight monitoring and fire-site security were carried out by the Konavle Public Fire Brigade.

At 1:25 a.m., Dubrovnik firefighters also received a report of a wildfire in the Kupari settlement near Župa Dubrovačka. A total of 51 firefighters with 11 fire vehicles were deployed to battle the blaze.

The fire was brought under control at around 3 a.m., and work to secure and extinguish remaining hotspots is ongoing. The fire affected grassland, low vegetation, and pine forest over an area of four hectares, according to HVZ.

An earlier fire in the Župa Dubrovačka area, which broke out on Monday evening, was extinguished on Tuesday afternoon. That blaze burned three hectares of grassland, low vegetation, and maquis shrubland, with 47 firefighters and 11 fire vehicles involved in the operation.

In the Split-Dalmatia region, fires in Slatine on Čiovo Island and in Sveta Nedelja on Hvar Island remain under control.

The Čiovo fire burned 20 hectares of grassland, low vegetation, and maquis shrubland. Twelve firefighters with four fire vehicles took part in the cleanup operation.

The Hvar fire, reported on Monday evening, affected ten hectares of pine forest. On Tuesday, 20 firefighters with six fire vehicles were engaged in containment efforts, while 15 firefighters remained on overnight watch.

According to the State Fire Operations Center 193, more than 100 firefighting interventions were recorded across Croatia in the past 24 hours. A total of 123 firefighting units, 416 firefighters, and 147 fire vehicles were involved in operations nationwide, Hina reported.

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