What should have been a pleasant barbecue in the sun turned to disaster – the danger of forest fires is real.
It should have been a fun afternoon by the sea. A barbecue with friends surrounded by Hvar’s spectacular nature.
Instead, some fifty hectares of land were burned, causing an estimated 300,000 kuna (40,000 euro) of damage, and the 46 year-old local woman from Zastrazisce has been arrested for firing up the open barbie and endangering life and property, according to media reports.
The blaze was put out by a combination of fire-fighting crews from land and air, and the team’s heroic actions were witnessed by Benjamin Gaier, who sent us these pictures. You can see more on his Flickr page. This is what he had to say:
We where on our way to a friends fishhouse on the croation island hvar. On our way we already saw smoke. Several firecars came by. I didn’t see the fire but lots of smoke and the fire was getting bigger very fast. Then also planes came, but we had to drive back then. Gladly the fire could be extinguished in time before it got near houses, figtrees or olivetrees.
PLEASE be careful. Forest fires can spread in seconds, and Hvar has suffered a lot from them over the years, most notably in 2003. It takes one moment of carelessness to destroy thousands of square metres of perfect nature.
