Forest fires still rage in drought-hit Croatian Adriatic south

ZAGREB (AFP) Jul 22, 2003
Croatian firefighters battled on Tuesday for a fifth consecutive day to contain forest fires burning in the countryside behind the southern Adriatic town of Dubrovnik which has been proclaimed a disaster area due to severe drought.

Mise Miloslavic, firefighters commander for the Dubrovnik-Neretva county, told AFP that the fire, which broke out on Friday, had not spread.

Miloslavic did not want to speculate on how long it could take to put the fire out, stressing that there had been no casualties and that the country's main Adriatic Sea resort, classified as a UN World Heritage Site, was not threatened.

The fire has destroyed more than 600 hectares (1,500 acres) of brush and wooded hillside.

Some 200 firefighters as well as three water-dropping aircrafts were fighting the blaze.

Local newspapers said the fire was the worst in 15 years, while police detained a man from Dubrovnik on suspicion of arson.

Another of Croatia's 21 counties has been proclaimed a disaster area Tuesday, also due to a two-month-long drought. The drought which hit the central Lika-Senja county has devastated notably grain and potato crops as well as vineyards and olive groves.

Fires also continued to ragealong Croatia's border with Bosnia, in the hills behind Dubrovnik. According to officials, they have so far destroyed more than 1,400 hectares.

TERRA.WIRE