Croatian police arrested four suspected of starting fires near Zadar

Four people were arrested in Croatia on suspicion that they caused the series of fires in Zadar County. As the police stated, the arrests followed after citizens reported a suspicious vehicle and behaviour.

The four were detained last night in the wider area of Benkovac, and the competent police officers are conducting a criminal investigation into their possible connection to the fires that broke out in different parts of the county.

Firefighters remain on site

Most fires in Zadar County have been contained, but rescue teams continue to stand by at the scenes and soak the edges of the burned areas to prevent the fire from re-igniting. Firefighters intervened yesterday and during the past night to extinguish several fires in the Benkovac area.

The commander of the Firefighting Association of Zadar County, Matej Rudić, said that fires are still being monitored at the sites in Ninski Stanovi and Žerava, in the areas of Galovac and Prkos, as well as on Dugi Otok, where a blaze broke out on Friday evening. "The largest fire at the moment is on Dugi Otok, where firefighters must constantly wet the edges of the burned area," he added.

Fires also broke out in the settlements of Biljani, Lišani Tinjski, Zapužane, Zagrad, Dobropoljci, in Biograd na Torovi and in Privlaka; thanks to rapid intervention, all those fires were brought under control in a short time.

Four patients who were severely injured in the fire near Omiš on the night between 13 and 14 August remain in critical condition and are being treated at the Clinical Hospital Center in Split.

"Their condition is unchanged, they are in the intensive care unit and are in life‑threatening condition," said the spokesperson of the Split Clinical Hospital Center, Kristina Bitanga. The Split Clinical Hospital Center is also treating seven other patients injured in the fire, who are out of life‑threatening danger and are accommodated in various hospital wards; the four most severely injured were initially admitted in Split and later transferred to Zagreb for further treatment.

In Croatia, causing a fire through negligence is punishable by a fine of €260 to €1,990. For deliberately setting a fire, a fine of €1,990 to €19,900 or imprisonment of up to 60 days is provided; if the fire endangers human lives or causes large material damage, perpetrators may face multi‑year imprisonment of up to 15 years.

Photo: press material from the event