As damages from the fire that consumed around 1,000 hectares are being tallied in the Omiš area, the investigation into the cause continues, and locals are convinced the fire was deliberately set.
Police and the State Attorney's Office are intensively searching for the cause of the fire that ravaged the Omiš area, while the extent of the damage is being assessed. According to Riportal, electricity supply has not yet been fully restored across the affected area, and many residents and visitors are still feeling anxiety and trauma after the harrowing night.
The on-site investigation at the point where the fire broke out in Lokva Rogoznica has concluded, and investigators have asked local residents to provide footage from surveillance cameras. Goran Lović from Lokva Rogoznica told RTL Danas that he immediately handed over his cameras to the police, although he couldn't review them because there was no electricity or internet. He added that he, the cook, his wife, and neighbors have been questioned, and he hopes the cause will be found.
To create a three-dimensional map of the burned terrain for expert analysis, more than 500 photographs are being collected via drone. Marijo Lović also provided police with footage from his cameras. Although the official cause has yet to be determined, locals do not believe the fire started accidentally.
"It's already started twice in the same place, and whoever it was, it was deliberate. Down there is a passage where someone can hide. It's sad. The fire started here, not upward, but over there," said Marijo Lović.
Goran Lović also does not consider the circumstances ordinary. He claimed that this was not a random fire because there is no person, no house, nothing, and he called it pure terrorism. Locals warn that the pine forest in the Lokva Rogoznica area allows the fire to spread extremely quickly. Goran Matajčić, a firefighter with the Omiš Volunteer Fire Department, says that fires in Lokva are unfortunately part of the tradition, so whenever Omiš is mentioned, one always thinks of Lokva Rogoznica.
The dramatic nature of the situation is vividly illustrated by footage of a Hungarian family trying to escape Lokva Rogoznica by car. The couple, with their three-year-old child and grandmother, had only arrived that day, but soon found themselves in a traffic jam as the fire drew closer. In the footage, panicked cries can be heard: "No, no, we can't get through here. No, no, no, no! It's going to ram into us."
As the fire approached, the situation became increasingly dangerous. Family members said the fire was all around them, that there was still smoke, that maybe even the road was burning, and that they could no longer stand the heat. Part of their car began to burn, and the glass cracked from the intense heat. They turned back toward Stanići, fled toward the sea, and spent about an hour there before help arrived by speedboat.
According to sources, a local hero named Slavko played a key role in rescuing the Hungarians, arriving with his speedboat. Before he set sail, his wife told him: "If you burn, I'll burn with you."
Ante Brnadić from Lokva Rogoznica was also trying to escape along the same route. He is a lung patient, making the escape through the smoke particularly difficult. Through tears, he recounted that it was critical and that a young man saved his life, both his and his sister's, and he hopes he can repay him. His brother and nephew, who came from Imotski, tried to save his house. Brnadić described how they put out the fire with a glass of water because the water supply had run out, except for what remained in the system.
Around 250 HEP workers and volunteers are engaged in the Omiš area, and electricity has not yet been restored to all customers. Ante Vuković, team leader at HEP Imotski, estimates that it will take another day or two for all the work to be completed properly. Ivan Pivčević, deputy mayor of Omiš, stated that the current priority is infrastructure restoration, while the removal of bulky waste should begin as early as the next day.
After everything, locals warn that hydrants alone are not enough if the existing infrastructure cannot provide the necessary water pressure. Marijo Lović described how people were shouting and asking for hydrants, but the infrastructure doesn't support those hydrants, and the water pressure dropped when everyone turned on their water. Although the full extent of the damage has yet to be determined, residents of the affected area emphasize that it is crucial to take all measures to ensure such a disaster never happens again.
