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A wildfire fueled by strong, shifting winds has destroyed homes and vehicles and forced hundreds of people to evacuate near Omis, a coastal town on Croatia's Adriatic coast roughly 25 kilometers (16 miles) southeast of Split.
The fire broke out Thursday evening in Lokva Rogoznica, a small tourist town near Omis, and spread through surrounding pine forests before reaching residential areas.
More than 150 firefighters were deployed to contain the blaze, which continued advancing toward Omis overnight and reached the Borak neighborhood above the city center at around 1:45 a.m. local time Friday.
At least 1,000 people displaced by the fire were relocated to a sports hall in Omis, local officials said. Evacuations were carried out by both land and sea, with harbor authority boats transporting residents and tourists from threatened areas.
A coastal road running through Lokva Rogoznica was closed after being affected by the fire, causing long queues of vehicles on routes toward Omis. Part of Omis also lost electricity, and traffic on the Adriatic coastal road was disrupted.
Omis Deputy Mayor Ivan Pivcevic said strong winds that repeatedly changed direction had fueled the fire's spread, describing the situation as “extremely difficult.” Split regional governor Blazenko Boban said some people had suffered burns.
Croatian fire chief Slavko Tucakovic told state broadcaster HRT the situation was "extremely worrying" and that firefighters faced a difficult night ahead. Additional firefighting teams from other parts of the country were called in to reinforce crews already at the scene.
Four Canadair water-bombing aircraft, unable to fly at night, were on standby to resume operations at dawn.
Earlier on Thursday, firefighters, backed by Canadair aircraft, brought a separate large wildfire under control on Brac, an island off the coast near Split.
The fire comes as Croatia experiences a prolonged heat wave that has brought record temperatures to towns and cities along the Adriatic coast. This is part of a wider spell of exceptionally hot weather affecting Europe this summer, leaving several countries facing elevated wildfire risks and heat warnings.
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