Dubrovnik fire threat subsiding by Delia Cruceru

The beautiful Croatian city of Dubrovnik, a Unesco World Heritage site, is in danger once more. After fires were contained yesterday, today the change of winds started the fire again. The fire started along the border with Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday and affected several villages, making its way through the pine forests that surround the port city to the Adriatic Sea. More than 1,000 firefighters and two Canadair planes succeeded in bringing the blaze under control but it started to spread again after the wind changed direction. "The flames are under control along the entire line. In some quarters we had to fight the fire from house to house, but we have succeeded in limiting the magnitude of the damage," said fire chief Tomislav Vuko. He also said that the fire might get very dangerous if it gets out of control and it will spread to Zaton. The Dubrovnik Mayor Dubravka Suica was forced to declare state of emergency. "We have set up a civil security headquarters and we're ready for evacuation of inhabitants from the districts that are in danger," she said. Almost 3,000 sq km (1,200 sq miles) of forest from the Southern Europe burned this year almost as much as in the whole of 2006, the European Commission said on Thursday.

related story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6932578.stm

by Delia Cruceru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.