August the 15th, 2026 – A man attempted to defend his home and all he had been building up since the 1990s in the Omiš fire, but tragically lost absolutely everything to the flames.
The horrendous fire that swept through the Omiš area has left catastrophic consequences in its wake. The blaze swallowed houses, cars and hospitality facilities, causing enormous material damage and creating chaos on the ground. One person tragically died in the fire, while more than 40 people sought medical help. Index/Lukrecija Zderic reports that the scale of the tragedy and the scenes of burned buildings testify to the destructive power of a fire that in a short time endangered the lives, property and livelihoods of numerous residents.
A stroll through the burned area, which according to initial estimates has scorched more than 1,000 hectares, is staggering. Many spent hours defending their homes from the flames, but when the fire became too great a threat they were forced to abandon their houses and flee, some into the sea directly, in order to save their own lives. Complete devastation now lies where houses and trees once stood, and the testimonies of residents best illustrate the scale of the tragedy and the fear they experienced as the fire approached their homes.
“I’ve lost everything i spent my life building”
A resident of Mala Luka near Omiš, Marin Ozretić, lost the home he built in the 1990s. When the fire broke out he tried to defend the house he lived in, but when the flames approached the building itself he was forced to flee so that his car would not burn and so that he would not remain trapped in the fire.
“How can I tell you… I’d been building this my whole life. We had to run. When it started, when it came from above, the flames were more than two or three metres high. I evacuated myself. There wasn’t even a moment of fear, because we were pouring water so it wouldn’t pass. I was watering these pines here, I watered these as far as the hose could reach. And then, after that, when I saw there was no hope left for me, I just had to go. Then I got into the car and at the last moment I saved the car, and myself,” he revealed.
Tourists from the Czech Republic also lost their car to the fire, leaving them still unsure how they will return to their homeland. The owner of the apartment where they were staying, Anđelko Kovačić, lost his house in the old village, as well as the workshop and the boats they were repairing, since he is engaged in servicing and repairing vessels.
Kovačić stated that he doesn’t expect much help from the state, emphasising that a possible compensation of 500 euros cannot restore what he’d been creating his whole life. An investigation into the causes of the fire is still ongoing, and it is not known how one of the largest fires to hit this area in recent years started and claimed one human life. While firefighters continue to extinguish the fire on the hill, residents in disbelief walk around their homes and what remains of them, confronting scenes that the blaze turned into ashes in just a few minutes.
