Photo and video: The fire in the Karst has not yet been extinguished, but is “well contained” with the help of forces from other regions

S.R.

19. 7. 2024, 06.26

Updated: 19/07/2024, 08:15

Yesterday morning, the fire broke out near the village of Škrbina and, due to the strong wind, spread along the slopes of Trstelje and neighboring Kačnik. By late afternoon, it had covered up to 150 hectares of wooded areas. As the authorities said yesterday, they were actually dealing with two fires.

What is the first information in the morning? According to the night manager of the intervention Boris Peternelj “the fire is not yet extinguished, but it is well contained,” announced early on from the regional headquarters of the Civil Defense for northern Primorska. The fire is not spreading, but individual hotspots are appearing or remaining, mainly due to the wind, which was losing its strength towards morning. “More than 400 firemen and women firefighters managed to somehow surround the entire fire area during the night, and they were also greatly helped by a drone that was used to monitor the entire area,” they also explained in civil protection.

Jure Klobčar

Today, air tractors and helicopters will once again reign in the air. Peternelj later explained that they are currently changing the team that will be in charge of cleaning the edge of the fire and finally putting it out, with the hope that they will be able to rehabilitate the fire by the end of the day today. According to his estimate, there is currently still about 100 hectares of land burning.

Forces from other regions arrived

The Firemen’s Association of Slovenia (GZS) also announced in the morning that new line replacements were carried out. Firefighters from the Gorenje and Notranj regions, as well as from the Ljubljana I region, came to the aid of colleagues from the Northern Littoral and Coastal Karst regions today. According to their data, 420 firefighters with 122 vehicles were fighting the fire and cleaning the edge of the fire at night. “The teams united on the line of the fire and surrounded the fire. The fire has not yet been extinguished, but it is limited. Firefighters are trying to extinguish individual hotspots. They also used a drone to monitor the area and take pictures of the situation,” they wrote on the Facebook social network.

The Slovenian Prime Minister is also leaving for the Karst this morning Robert Dove, who also serves as the Minister of Defense. Golob was in a hurry abroad yesterday, but today in the Karst he will familiarize himself with the operational functioning of the aerial fire-fighting unit, which operates within the framework of the Administration of the Republic of Slovenia for Protection and Rescue, and will see the discharge of water from two air tractor planes, which help in fire-fighting . Today, the commander of the GZS will also take a look at the situation at the fire site Zvonko Glažar.

##FACEBOOK-

Road closure

Due to the fires in the Karst, traffic is closed or severely obstructed in some sections, the traffic and information center reports in the meantime. The local roads Renče – Temnica, Lipa – Dornberk and Komen – Škrbina – Šibelji are closed. They also warn that convoys of fire engines are also expected from time to time, so they ask other road users to allow them to pass as safely and quickly as possible.

Danger of explosions?

Also the commander of the Civil Defense Lucky Šestan yesterday on TV Slovenija’s Echoes, he confirmed that the situation is calming down and that the fire is less intense. “Since there are experienced people in the field, I believe they will do a lot. I believe that in the morning we will be able to find that a lot has been done and we will not need the biggest activities in tomorrow.” he asserted, according to STA. Regarding the danger of unexploded ordnance from the First World War, he said that the area of ​​the fire is far from the area of ​​the Soška Front, and that this area has also burned several times in the past. Nevertheless, the fire caused an explosion in the morning. According to the pyrotechnicians’ assessment, it was supposed to be a 7.5-kilogram grenade, said Šestan.

Many fire brigades from the region and from other parts of the country went to the fire scene already in the early hours of the morning.

##FBVIDEO-

##FACEBOOK-

##FACEBOOK-

##FACEBOOK-

##FACEBOOK-

Jure Klobčar