Wildfire on Croatian coast injures 36, forces 1,000 to evacuate near Omis

Outbreak and spread

The fire broke out Thursday evening in the tourist settlement of Lokva Rogoznica, south of Split on Croatia's Dalmatian coast. Driven by strong, shifting winds, it advanced several kilometres toward the tourist town of Omis, engulfing pine forests, vegetation, and residential areas. Reports of burned houses came from several settlements in the area, including Ivasnjak, Staro, Selo, and Nemira, according to Croatian daily Vecernji List. By Friday morning, between 900 and 1,000 hectares had burned, according to Dutch outlet NOS, while Spanish daily La Vanguardia reported more than 1,000 hectares affected. A section of the main coastal highway was closed in both directions, and a Croatian navy vessel was placed on standby for possible sea evacuations. Goran Lovic, owner of a cafe near where the fire started in Lokva Rogoznica, told Jutarnji List: "Everything caught fire in a second."

Casualties and evacuations

The number of injured rose through the night. Fire chief Slavko Tucakovic told national radio Friday morning that 19 people had been hurt, some seriously. Later reports from Croatian outlet N1 and others raised the figure to 36, with 14 hospitalised in Split and seven in intensive care with life-threatening injuries. The majority were treated for burns and smoke inhalation; several firefighters were among those intoxicated by smoke. Bloomberg reported one person still missing. About 1,000 people, many of them tourists, were evacuated and spent the night in emergency shelters. Red Cross centres were opened in Omis, Split, and Makarska. Tomislav Gojo, head of the Red Cross in Split, told Jutarnji List that some evacuees did not know where their family members were, and that it was hard to estimate how long the situation would last.

Firefighting response

Nearly 300 firefighters and 93 vehicles were deployed overnight, but Tucakovic said they were overwhelmed by the fire's rapid advance. La Vanguardia reported 286 firefighters and 90 vehicles. Four Canadair CL-415 amphibious water bombers, unable to operate at night, were dispatched around 6 a.m. Friday. By morning, the fire service reported no large open flames, but Tucakovic cautioned that containment was not in sight.

In the next two or three days nothing will change.

He also criticised "irresponsible persons" who drove their burning vehicles further, contributing to the fire's spread, saying they had not followed instructions. The heat was so intense that rocks split, power poles toppled, and roads were blocked by landslides. Tucakovic described the scene around 2 a.m., when the fire spread rapidly under violent, shifting winds.

It was a frightening spectacle. Many houses, cafes, restaurants, cars and boats that were on dry land were damaged.

In an HVZ statement, Tucakovic called it "one of the worst fires in Croatia's history." The governor of the region, Blazenko Boban, said the fires along the rocky coast from Omis to Lokva Rogoznica were difficult to control.

Broader context

Croatia and the wider Balkans have been hit by a heat wave, with temperature records set in several Adriatic coastal cities including Split, about 30 kilometres from Lokva Rogoznica. Forecasts predicted up to 34 degrees Friday in the Omis area. Since the start of the year, Croatian authorities have recorded about 3,900 fires that burned nearly 10,000 hectares, a 75% increase in affected area compared with the same period in 2025, according to the HVZ. A fire on the nearby island of Brac was contained on Thursday with Canadair support. Part of the Omis firefighting team and four aircraft were reassigned to a new blaze on the Peljesac peninsula, a wooded area known for its vineyards. Other Balkan regions, including Bosnia, Montenegro, and Serbia, also faced wildfires. Wildfires also prompted evacuations in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and near Como, Italy.