Fire-Fighter Dies Extinguishing Fire On Hvar

The fire started before 11am on the south side of the island of Hvar, and the fire immediately threatened houses and an auto-camp.

The fire which started on the Sveti Nikola Hill on Hvar has claimed one life. The volunteer fire-fighter of from the organization DVD Stari Grad, Marinko Juric, the commander of the squad, died at the location of the fire itself, after he fell ill, reports the newspaper Glas Dalmacije.

The fire started before 11am on the south side of the island of Hvar, and the fire immediately threatened houses and an auto-camp. The guests of the Jagodna auto-camp were transferred closer to Jelsi. Tomislav Vuka, the assistant national fire-fighting commander for the seaside, said that this measure was not an evacuation, but only taking care of people.

- We are raising extra forces from Split and are going to Hvar. We do not know how much has burnt. We hope that this fire will be put out soon – said Tomislav Vuka to Glas Dalmacije. A number of fire-fighters are in charge of protecting the auto-camp, so up until now, not a single house or vehicle has burnt.

The main part of the fire is being extinguished by helicopters and two Canadair fire-fighting aircraft, and members of the intervention unit who are stationed on Hvar, and are attempting to stop the fire from spreading to the north side of the island towards Jelsa, reports the newspaper Jutarnji List.