A massive four-kilometre wall of fire is burning just across Croatia’s border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, sending thick smoke over Konavle and leaving firefighters on high alert amid fears that a change in the wind could send the flames back towards Croatian territory.
The Dubrovnik Times travelled to Duba Konavoska on Saturday, the furthest village in Konavle towards the border, to see the situation first-hand.
And the scale of the challenge facing firefighters is immediately obvious.
Photo – Mark Thomas
The landscape above the tiny village is brutally inaccessible, a maze of steep hills, deep valleys and dense vegetation with virtually no roads allowing emergency crews to reach the flames.
But there was some much-needed good news from the front line on Saturday afternoon.
The wind had almost completely died away.
For the moment, at least, the enormous blaze is not being driven towards Croatia.
Flames crossed into Croatia overnight
Konavle and neighbouring Župa dubrovačka woke on Saturday beneath a dramatic blanket of smoke drifting across the border from fires raging in the wider Trebinje region.
According to Dubrovnik-Neretva County Fire Commander Stjepan Simović, there are at least two – and possibly three – active fires across the border.
And overnight the danger came even closer.
Photo – Mark Thomas
A section of the wildfire crossed onto Croatian territory above Duba Konavoska, although it remained well away from the village itself.
By Saturday morning, however, the wind had pushed the flames back towards Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“The smoke really looks terrible,” said Simović.
He explained that an inspection of the area on Saturday morning had shown the situation was improving.
The fire is estimated to be around 1.5 kilometres from Duba Konavoska as the crow flies.
But reaching it from the ground is another matter entirely.
‘Almost impossible’ to reach the fire
Firefighters would have to negotiate hills and valleys before climbing again towards the fire – all while carrying heavy equipment.
There are virtually no roads.
Simović described attempting to tackle the blaze directly as an “almost impossible mission.”
And there is another, potentially deadly complication.
Firefighters cannot be certain whether parts of the remote terrain across the border contain landmines.
Simović has made it clear that he will not send crews into an area where their safety cannot be guaranteed.
Instead, firefighters are keeping a close watch on the blaze from safer positions, with a drone being used to monitor the fire front.
An Air Tractor was also called in from Zadar to inspect the wildfire from above and provide commanders with a clearer picture of the situation.
Four kilometres of fire – and a nervous wait for the wind
According to information available to emergency services, the fire front across the border stretches for around four kilometres.
Scrubland burning across the mountains is producing huge amounts of smoke, explaining the dramatic scenes witnessed across Konavle and Župa dubrovačka on Saturday morning.
For now, however, the weather is giving firefighters a helping hand.
When The Dubrovnik Times visited Duba Konavoska, the wind had almost completely disappeared.
But everyone here knows how quickly conditions can change.
A strong bora wind could transform the situation, potentially driving flames across the rugged landscape towards Croatian territory.
With such an enormous fire front and almost no roads available for firefighting vehicles, that is the scenario emergency crews desperately want to avoid.
‘A real inferno’
It has already been an exhausting few days for firefighters along Croatia’s southern border.
Crews recently battled another major wildfire around Ivanica, which Simović described as a “real inferno”.
Photo – Mark Thomas
And there has been little respite.
“There has been no peace on the other side of the border this summer,” he said.
Firefighters in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina are meanwhile attempting to stop the blaze from reaching the main Trebinje-Herceg Novi road and the local landfill.
Back in Duba Konavoska, there is little that can be done except monitor the flames, watch the smoke, and keep a very close eye on the weather.
For the moment, the news is encouraging.
The wind has dropped, the fire is not advancing towards the village and firefighters remain on the ground.
But with four kilometres of flames burning across some of the most inaccessible terrain imaginable, nobody here is relaxing just yet.