106 VEHICLES, 28 HOUSES AND 45 VESSELS DESTROYED BY FIRE

OMIŠ, AUGUST 17 /SRNA/ - In the large fire in the Omiš area, 106 vehicles, 28 houses and 45 vessels were destroyed, and the damage to agricultural land, including olive groves, has not yet been assessed, Split-Dalmatia County Prefect Blaženko Boban said.

A further 43 houses, 20 vehicles and nine vessels were partially damaged by fire. Boban said that seven commercial buildings, three hospitality establishments, six auxiliary structures attached to family homes, as well as 45 vessels that had been hauled ashore, were also destroyed. After the City Administration assesses the situation and determines the extent of the damage, Boban said the Civil Protection Headquarters would request that the state of a natural disaster be declared. The State Prosecutor's Office said that, together with police and an inspector for fire and explosion protection, it had inspected the site where the fire broke out and was continuing its investigation into all the circumstances surrounding the blaze, Croatian media reported. Samples were collected at the site where the fire started and will undergo forensic analysis in an effort to determine the cause of the fire. Investigators are collecting surveillance camera footage from across the affected area. They have also ordered aerial imaging of the fire-affected area, as well as photographs of the destroyed buildings and vehicles. One person was killed in the fire, while the State Prosecutor's Office said 38 people were injured, 10 of whom were hospitalized due to serious injuries. The fire broke out on Thursday, August 13, at around 8:00 p.m. in a wooded area alongside a road in the Lokva Rogoznica area. Fanned by strong winds, it spread all the way to Omiš, covering an area approximately 23 kilometres long and 1.5 kilometres wide. The fire burned through around 1,000 hectares of grassland, low vegetation and pine forest.