Wildfires around Sibenik contained

Pixsell/PIXSELL

Firefighters reportedly managed to contain several wildfires that raged in the area around Sibenik since Tuesday, state agency Hina said on Wednesday.

Late on Tuesday, firefighting vehicles left the fire sites, while firefighters remained on the ground “in case further intervention was needed,” Hina said, citing unnamed sources at the national firefighting association.

“The area affected by wildfires is rather large, around 400 hectares of land, which is why caution is needed,” firefighting commander, Darko Dukic, told state radio.

A large part of the area cannot be accessed by fire trucks because forest tracks are too narrow for them to pass through, Dukic added, noting that the wind frequently changed direction on Tuesday, making the situation on the ground more difficult for firefighters.

The fires broke out by the main road running along the Adriatic coastline near the town of Vodice and close to the Podi industrial zone near Sibenik. A hundred firefighters, assisted by seven firefighting planes, were called in to help with the effort. The fire at Podi was contained on Tuesday afternoon while the wildfires near Vodice were put under control late the evening.

Most of the local roads that had been temporarily closed because of the fires were reopened in the evening.