In 2018 area burned by wildfires 98 percent down from 2017

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Monday toured the Fire Coordination Centre at Divulje in Croatia's second city of Split, saying that this year significant improvements had been made in the firefighting system, and that the area consumed by wildfires this year was 98 percent smaller than last year.

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"We have learned our lesson from the situation as it was in 2017 ," he said, but warned that it is necessary to remain vigilant for the remainder of the wildfire season.

In July 2017 a large forest fire went on for day in parts of central Dalmatia, and at one point threatened the outskirts of Split before being put under control by efforts of hundreds of volunteer firefighters called in from all over the country.

Plenkovic said that the decrease in the number of wildfires this year is owing to more favourable weather conditions than last year, coupled with measures taken to improve fire prevention - including better coordination of firefighting efforts and faster response times.

He told reporters that the establishment of the main operational firefighting command at Divulje had greatly contributed to the decrease in the number of wildfires along the coast.

Plenkovic pledged even more government funding for the next wildfire season, to be used for the improvement of firefighting capabilities of towns and municipalities in need of additional firefighting equipment.

He also called on the public to act responsibly and refrain from lighting fires in the open in hot and windy weather.

Defence Minister Damir Krsticevic, who was accompanying Plenkovic, said that this was the first year that unmanned aerial vehicles were used to help prevent and detect wildfires.

Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said that so far this year there has been 75 percent fewer wildfires than in the same period last year.

"The rate of cases solved has gone up by 24 percent, and charges have been pressed against 26 people (for arson)," said Bozinovic.

He said that EU funds worth 31.5 million kuna (€4.2 million) would be used to buy telecommunications equipment for response services, notably firefighters, and that 94 firefighting vehicles worth 257 million kuna (€34.7 million) would also be bought.

(€1 = 7.41 kuna)

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Teme