Devastating Fires in Croatia

A fire broke out in a town called Lokva Rogoznica, Croatia. It quickly spread kilometres and affected many, with immense damage.

I’ve been shaking all morning, with goosebumps at every new update, and I’m not even personally affected by this fire. I live kilometres away, but I can still see the smoke rising on the mountain from my house. The smoke and fire ash are still in the air, so even being this far away, it filled my house. I can only imagine what it is like for people who are there and are immediately affected.

Two towns are completely gone. The houses burned down, the cars abandoned on the road, burning, too. Locals have been trapped inside their homes, and the tourists renting the apartments there had to evacuate as well. It must’ve been confusing for them, as they couldn’t know what to do and where to go. People are missing and have life-threatening injuries. The firefighters were doing their best throughout the night with unapproachable terrain.

Last year, another fire burned down many houses in a town over from where the fire started last night, and we all thought that fire was the worst we had, but this time around, it’s even more devastating.

The thing is, in August, going into late summer, the vegetation is dry, and burns more quickly. That, together with the strong wind that picked up and the terrain that basically looks like this: mountain, then steep coastline with towns built tightly together, and then the sea, all made for a deadly trap. If you live on the Croatian coast, or have ever visited, you would know that the old towns are clustered tightly together, and once one house is affected, all are in danger.

With temperatures exceptionally high this year, what happened is a catastrophe. The scenes we were watching this morning are unfathomable. It all happened in a span of a couple of hours. So, the fire started in one place, seemingly a small one, and then very quickly travelled kilometres. It got worse after a car repair shop caught fire. That caused a great explosion.

People need shelter. They had to leave all their belongings behind. There are children and the elderly who need help. In the coming days, help from the local community will provide necessities, but as for where they can go now, having lost their homes, I don’t even know what their options are.

This is incredibly sad and scary. We, as a local community, will have to band together and stay strong through this, as we have families and friends who are affected, and for the people who need support and help getting out of here, including tourists and visitors.

As I’m writing this, a new cloud of smoke is rising from the hill, and the wind is picking up. It is a huge cloud, and it seems to have affected some buildings, maybe hunting cabins.

All the best to our firefighters who have to risk their lives in these incredibly difficult circumstances. They are the absolute heroes. They are also exhausted. I hope they get the praise they deserve from our government when this is over.

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