Fire in Sesvete Caused by Heat and Sun
Police investigation revealed that extreme heat ignited dry grass and spread to a weekend cottage.
Police investigation revealed that extreme heat ignited dry grass and spread to a weekend cottage.
Zagreb police have completed the investigation into the fire that broke out in the Sesvete area on August 7, 2026, and have announced a somewhat unexpected cause. The blaze was not caused by an open flame or a spark, but by extremely high air temperatures and strong solar radiation.
According to the investigation results, published on August 8, 2026, the heat transferred to extremely dry grass and vegetation, leading to ignition. The fire then spread rapidly, engulfing a canopy, a storage shed, and finally the weekend cottage.
The investigation was conducted by the Zagreb Police Department with the expert assistance of fire protection inspectors. Their goal was to precisely reconstruct the sequence of events and rule out all other possible causes. The conclusion is clear: prolonged heating of dry vegetation created the conditions for spontaneous combustion.
"The fire in Sesvete, according to the results of the police investigation, originated from the transfer of heat to extremely dry vegetation. Strong sunlight and high air temperature acted on the grass and vegetation, and the resulting fire found additional combustible material and spread toward the canopy, storage shed, and weekend cottage," the police statement said.
This incident serves as a serious warning about the dangers lurking during summer heatwaves. The case proves that catastrophic fires are not always caused by human negligence or technical failures. It is enough for dry grass and vegetation to be exposed to prolonged and intense solar radiation to ignite.
The police published the investigation results as a supplement to earlier information about the event, thereby finally clarifying the cause of the fire that alarmed residents of that part of Zagreb.
