This summer season seemed to have been free of major wildfires in Croatia.
But the last days of summer (although, obviously, not summer at all, but early autumn after the series of hot days and during the strong northeastern, “bura” wind) have shown us not to get too happy about avoiding major wildfires. The “bura” wind allegedly took down a power line, which lead to electrical discharge which was amplified, again, by the strong cool wind.
The fire started in Orebić’s Mokalo village, spread rapidly, at one point threatening many houses in the area. For many people in Korčula, one of the first signs of serious trouble (in addition to seeing flames and smoke on Pelješac) was a post by Korčula Mayor, Andrija Fabris on Facebook, explaining that ferries from Korčula at 3 pm will not be going to Orebić, but rather to Trstenik, which is much farther up Pelješac peninsula from Orebić.
The fire has spread and raged on, getting more and more attention by the Croatian media (who were, at some point during Wednesday in their usual maniacal frenzy, proclaiming that all of Pelješac is basically on fire). At the same time, both the fire and the efforts by the brave firefighters who stood up to it (and the crazy bura that brought it about) caught the attention of the people of Korčula, who got to see the attempts to put the fire out – first hand.
Tonči Bernetić shows us the hard work put into getting the fire under control by the CanadAir pilots, as well as the extent of the damage done by the fire on Pelješac during the day.
This morning, luckily, the wind has wound down, and the firefighters on the ground were able to put the fire under their control. Luckily, there were no human casualties, but 4 houses are being reported as burnt down.
