August the 17th, 2026 – The material damage caused by the catastrophic Omiš fire is astronomical, with the full scale of the damage almost too difficult to cope with for some.
The horrendous fire that ripped through part of the central Dalmatian coastline has now finally been completely stopped, but it has left behind scenes of complete and utter destruction. Houses, business premises, boats and cars burned. Residents are returning to their properties and adding up the damage. One woman tragically lost her life in the fire, but her identity has not yet been officially confirmed, reports Net.hr.
Index reports that the residents of the hardest-hit areas are only now fully realising the true scale of the damage. In the places where firefighters fought the flames, today only the remains of life before the fire are left.
“It’s awful. At first I didn’t have that many emotions, but yesterday I cried the whole way as I looked at it all. I’m not so much sorry for myself as I am for other people. Look around, this is an apocalypse,” said Ivica Marijanović from Čelina. He estimates the damage to his property at between 700 and 800 thousand euros. “This is a catastrophe. It’s terrible,” Marijanović added.
Numerous business facilities were also destroyed in the fire. Boat service owner Ante Kovačić in Vrisovci lost almost all of his property. “Seven or eight boats burned at this location, and I have another location elsewhere where another four were damaged. The damage is huge. Here the work van was scorched, my scooter also burned. It’s a horror,” Kovačić said. Cafe owner Josip Čapeta said that he, his father and a worker stayed to defend the building while others were evacuating. “We stayed here to try and save it. We built this with our own hands and we stayed to fight to the end. We didn’t run,” he said. Despite their efforts, the cafe where eight people earned their living was not saved.
lingering fears will hang around for a long time to come
While some lost almost everything, others find reasons for gratitude in the remains. In the home of academic painter Miro Zovko in Stanići, the fire destroyed some artworks and instruments. “About 16 paintings burned there, there were instruments too. But thank God, my studio upstairs remained intact. And there could have been an explosion from all that resin,” Zovko said. Dominik Čapin from Stanići believes it is a real miracle that the fire did not engulf the entire house. “Today’s Our Lady was with us so that everything didn’t burn. Upstairs it was ten centimetres short of catching the wooden beams – everything would have burned,” he said.
The fear has not disappeared with the fire. Anica Tomić from Čelina described how she was saving a car while sparks were flying around her. “I took a hose from the neighbour and that’s how we were saving things. I can’t talk any more, I’m sorry. Now the panic is hitting me – now it’s worse and harder for me than it was these past two days,” she said through tears.
those injured remain in a critical condition in hospital
While the damage is being assessed on the ground, treatment of the most seriously injured continues in hospitals. At University Hospital Zagreb three patients are fighting for their lives and their condition is unchanged. At the Children’s Hospital in Zagreb, a minor is being treated who suffered burns on 25 percent of her body. She was operated on yesterday. “If everything goes according to plan, she’ll be taken off the assisted breathing device within the next 36 hours,” said Stjepan Višnjić, head of the Clinic for Paediatric Surgery.
At University Hospital Split seven more patients are being treated. “On Friday afternoon we had to operate on one patient whose condition had worsened and re-intubate her. Three patients are on the ward and there are no changes with them,” said Ivo Utrobčić from the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery and Burns at University Hospital Split.
The fire has left behind enormous material damage and the gravest consequence. The identity of the woman who died is still being established.
