Firefighters confident in Dubrovnik battle
Dubrovnik, Croatia, has been basking in 40C temperatures this summer
Monday, 06, Aug 2007 12:06
Firefighters may be winning their battle to save Unesco world heritage sight Dubrovnik from a raging forest fire.
The Croatian capital has been in a state of emergency after weeks of hot weather set up conditions for the fire, which was threatening the city's suburbs over the weekend.
Three Canadian Bombardier anti-fire aircraft were used to dump water on the blaze, which at one stage was advancing on Dubrovnik's suburbs across a 14-mile front.
Women and children have been evacuated to emergency shelters set up on the hillside but these appear to now be unnecessary.
"The damage could have been worse, but we were able to stop the fire injuring more people or damaging more property," deputy fire chief Tomislav Vuko told the AFP news agency.
"We are satisfied with the outcome of this situation. Our forces have done a great job during the night and we have brought the fire under control along the entire front."
Last week a fire destroyed one-third of forest cover on the two main Canary Islands, prompting the evacuation of 14,000 people.
July was one of the worst on record for forest fires, with 3,376 square kilometres having burned so far this year, the European Commission said last week.