August the 30th, 2022 - Fifteen whole years have passed since the devastating Kornati tragedy took the lives of twelve out of the 23 firefighters sent to the island of Kornat to battle the wildfires that had broken out there on the 30th of August, 2007.

A series of horrendous wildfires broke out between June the 1st and August the 8th, 2007, and the period is even referred to as the 2007 Croatian coast fires. The fire which broke out on the island of Kornat, part of the heavily visited Kornati National Park, became the horrific scene of the worst Croatian firefighting accident in the history of firefighting in this country.

As Morski writes, twelve tremendously brave and selfless firefighters lost their lives either at the scene on the island of Kornat, or died later on when in hospital. The only survivor at that time was 23-year-old Frane Lucic from Tisno.

In Vodice, the commemoration of another sad anniversary of the Kornati tragedy began with a parade of local fire brigades. The pilots of the 855th firefighting squadron of the HRZ also paid their respects to the firefighters with a canadair flight over the town, writes HRT.

At the monument to the victims, a model of the helicopter that flew over the Kornati National Park on the fateful day, as well as the black box from that aircraft, which was subsequently lost, were placed.

''Our message that we wanted to showcase with this is that the black box was removed from the helicopter and was lost on the day of the accident and it has still not be found, fifteen years have now passed and the question arises as to why it even disappeared in the first place,'' said Matija-Karlo Valincic, president of the Vodice Fire Brigade.

Some of the families of the fallen firefighters who lost their lives to the fire that day still think that they were doused with kerosene from a helicopter. Officially, according to experts, the Kornati tragedy was caused by different versions of a "rare natural phenomenon" - an eruptive fire, the combustion of an inhomogeneous gas mixture and a fire with an eruptive effect. In the case against former fire chief Drazen Slavica, the court rejected the possibility that the firefighters died due to the effects of kerosene. In the meantime, Slavica has been legally acquitted and will now sue the state.

Despite the passage of time and the chances of getting answers seeming to get further and further away as the clock ticks, the families whose lives have been stuck in summer 2007 ever since the Kornati tragedy aren't giving up on their search for the truth and for justice. They have jointly submitted a constitutional complaint and requests to the European Court of Human Rights.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

August 30, 2021 - On the Kornati tragedy 14th anniversary, Croatia remembers the firefighters that fell victim to a blaze on the island of Kornati on August 30, 2007. Of the 13 firefighters at the scene, 12 died on the spot or in hospital, and only one survived - Frane Lučić from Tisno. The event is considered the worst disaster since the Croatian War of Independence with officials dying on duty. 

“An unprecedented firefighting tragedy happened on the Kornati Islands in Dalmatia, Croatia on August 30, 2007. This is the worst disaster since the Croatian War of Independence, with officials dying on duty. The underbrush on the barren, uninhabited side of the island caught fire, and firefighters were called to help. As the summer is the season of fires, Croatia had lent a firefighting plane to Greece to help fight their fires. So there was an urgent need for another means of transportation, and a military helicopter was used to transport firefighters and a water container. The MI-8 MTV-1 helicopter disembarked the water container at one spot, the firefighters at another, and left. That military helicopter has remained the issue of later speculations. Namely, in “Novi tjednik,” a Dalmatian daily, a shocking article by journalist Jelena Devcic was published entitled “Proofs buried, cleaning fluid on the ground.” It has been speculated that the helicopter hit a rock during maneuvering, and besides a blown tire, the tank was damaged with oil and petrol leaking because some oily stains were found on the rocks. The firefighters were soon surrounded by burning underbrush, and they burned.

According to the official expertise that was done later, it was concluded that a burn-out of an inhomogeneous gas mixture occurred by burning vegetation accompanied by strong winds. A similar rare phenomenon was described in Australia in 2003 near Canberra and Corsica in 2000 near the place Palasca. Therefore, besides our leading forensic experts, the leading world firefighting experts were invited to the Republic of Croatia who came to reconstruct the disaster, to find out the dynamics and kinetics of fire, its speed and direction it spread, height and position of the flame, and to assess the freed thermal energy,” reads the official report from Hrvoje Lalić, Professor, Specialist in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Rijeka Medical School. 

Six firefighters from the Sibenik fire department were killed - Dino Klarić, Ivica Crvelin, Ivan Marinović, Marko Stančić, Gabrijel Skočić, and Hrvoje Strikoman, and seven more survived with severe body burns. Five were transferred for treatment in Zagreb (Tomislav Crvelin, Ante Crvelin, Josip Lučić, Karlo Ševerdija, and Marinko Knežević) and soon died from the severity of their burns. The only surviving firefighter, Frane Lučić, was discharged for home treatment after recovering at Split Clinical Hospital.

County Fire Commander Dražen Slavica was the only one charged with the Kornati tragedy, as the only potential culprit for the death of 12 of his colleagues. DORH charged the then fire commander with numerous failures in organizing the intervention, appointing minors to the fire, delaying assistance to the victims, and more. At the end of April 2018, he was finally acquitted of all guilt in a repeated trial. 

An eruptive fire is an official explanation initially presented to the public as the cause of the accident.

“It has been shown that the temperature at the fire site was over 1200°C, and it explained the cause of such a sporadic fire. The cause was the burn-out of an inhomogeneous gas mixture due to the burning of vegetation, carried by a strong wind that swept over the firemen.

The idea that the kerosene from the army helicopter caught fire was discarded as unfounded and improbable. Instead, it was the seasonal receptionist at the Kornati National Park whose cigarette butt started the chain of unfortunate events.

The last question refers to the events after the disaster – why did it take hours to transport the casualties from the island to the mainland, late at night by a naval vessel? Only one fireman survived. Because he developed PTSD and was undergoing treatment, he could not comprehend the whole event but is aware of his colleagues´ death. He was transferred to Bratislava, Slovakia, to have his skin grafted. He wishes to return to everyday life but has a long rehabilitation ahead of him. In principle, most patients return to work after burn injuries. Of course, it depends on the type and severity of the injury, which often requires a long and intensive hospital therapy and other out-of-hospital treatments. Major burns consequentially lead to the failure of organs, sepsis, and shock. The survivors often get damaged muscle-skeletal and circulation systems, but also mental disorders. Deformities, loss of body parts (like the Kornati survivor with a handicapped finger) may trigger serious psychological problems. Social support, the role of family and partners is of great importance. It is not only the direct victims that are mentally scarred. Three weeks after the Kornati tragedy, the volunteer fire company secretary hanged himself. He was a high-school teacher and knew the young victims who used to be his students. The volunteer fire company captain needed psychiatric treatment,” Hrvoje Lalić continued in the official report. 

It took ten years for the state to settle with Frane Lučić. Finally, it was decided that the compensation would be 1.75 million kuna, that he would be paid two monthly rents - 1500 kuna for medical preparations and food and 4500 kuna for help and care. He was also reimbursed for 617 thousand kuna in court costs, all of which, with default interest, amounted to around 5 million kuna as of 2009.

In September 2009, the government commissioned the Ministries of Culture, Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Construction and Physical Planning to announce a call for proposals for the Kornati tragedy memorial's conceptual design to be completed by the anniversary in 2010. On January 29, 2010, it was announced that Zadar architect Nikola Bašić would design the memorial. The plan was to have crosses made of stones as found on the island, which would fit into the landscape. The memorial crosses on the Kornati were completed on May 23, 2010.

A commemoration and prayer for the lives lost are expected at the Kornati memorial park today, with a wreath-laying in the local communities of Šibenik, Vodice, and Tisno. In addition, the memory of the victims will be expressed by all fire brigades, with the sound of a siren at exactly 15:25. They will pay tribute by lighting a candle in remembrance. 

The 14th anniversary will be held internally without guests, unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 situation. Only members of DVD Tisno and the families of the killed firefighters are participating, DVD Tisno announced on its Facebook.

For more on the news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

August 30, 2020 - Croatia remembers the Kornati tragedy, which occurred on August 30, 2007, when a group of firefighters fell victim to a blaze on the island of Kornati. Of the 13 firefighters at the scene, 12 died on the spot or in hospital, and only one survived - Frane Lučić from Tisno. The event is considered the worst disaster since the Croatian War of Independence, with officials dying on duty. 

“An unprecedented firefighting tragedy happened on the Kornati Islands in Dalmatia, Croatia on August 30, 2007. This is the worst disaster since the Croatian War of Independence, with officials dying on duty. The underbrush on the barren, uninhabited side of the island caught fire, and firefighters were called to help. As the summer is the season of fires, Croatia had lent a firefighting plane to Greece to help fight their fires. So there was an urgent need for another means of transportation, and a military helicopter was used to transport firefighters and a water container. The MI-8 MTV-1 helicopter disembarked the water container at one spot, the firefighters at another, and left. That military helicopter has remained the issue of later speculations. Namely, in “Novi tjednik,” a Dalmatia daily, a shocking article by journalist Jelena Devcic was published entitled “Proofs buried, cleaning fluid on the ground.” It has been speculated that the helicopter hit a rock during maneuvering, and besides a blown tire, the tank was damaged with oil and petrol leaking because some oily stains were found on the rocks. The firefighters were soon surrounded by burning underbrush, and they burned.

According to the official expertise that was done later, it was concluded that a burn-out of an inhomogeneous gas mixture occurred by burning vegetation accompanied by strong winds. A similar rare phenomenon was described in Australia in 2003 near Canberra and Corsica in 2000 near the place Palasca. Besides our leading forensic experts, the leading world firefighting experts were invited to the Republic of Croatia who came to reconstruct the disaster, to find out the dynamics and kinetics of fire, its speed and direction it spread, height and position of the flame and to assess the freed thermal energy,” reads the official report from Hrvoje Lalić, Professor, Specialist in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Rijeka Medical School. 

Six firefighters from the Sibenik fire department were killed - Dino Klarić, Ivica Crvelin, Ivan Marinović, Marko Stančić, Gabrijel Skočić, and Hrvoje Strikoman, and seven more survived with severe body burns. Five were transferred for treatment in Zagreb (Tomislav Crvelin, Ante Crvelin, Josip Lučić, Karlo Ševerdija, and Marinko Knežević) and soon died from the severity of their burns. The only surviving firefighter, Frane Lučić, was discharged for home treatment after recovering at Split Clinical Hospital.

County Fire Commander Dražen Slavica was the only one charged with the Kornati tragedy, as the only potential culprit for the death of 12 of his colleague. DORH charged the then fire commander with numerous failures in organizing the intervention, appointing minors to the fire, delaying assistance to the victims, and more. At the end of April 2018, he was finally acquitted of all guilt in a repeated trial. 

An eruptive fire is an official explanation initially presented to the public as the cause of the accident.

“It has been shown that the temperature at the fire site was over 1200°C, and it explained the cause of such a sporadic fire. The cause was the burn-out of an inhomogeneous gas mixture due to the burning of vegetation, carried by a strong wind that swept over the firemen.

The idea that the kerosene from the army helicopter caught fire was discarded as unfounded and improbable. It was the seasonal receptionist at the Kornati National Park, whose cigarette butt started the chain of unfortunate events.

The last question refers to the events after the disaster – why did it take hours to transport the casualties from the island to the mainland, late at night by a naval vessel? Only one fireman survived. Because he developed PTSD and was undergoing treatment, he could not comprehend the whole event, but is aware of his colleagues´ death. He was transferred to Bratislava, Slovakia, to have his skin grafted. He wishes to return to everyday life but has a long rehabilitation ahead of him. In principle, most patients return to work after burn injuries. Of course, it depends on the type and severity of the injury, which often requires a long and intensive hospital therapy and other out-of-hospital treatments. Major burns consequentially lead to the failure of organs, sepsis, and shock. The survivors often get damaged muscle-skeletal and circulation systems, but also mental disorders. Deformities, loss of body parts (like the Kornati survivor with a handicap finger), may trigger serious psychological problems. Social support, the role of family and partners is of great importance. It is not only the direct victims that are mentally scarred. Three weeks after the Kornati tragedy, the volunteer fire company secretary hanged himself. He was a high-school teacher and knew the young victims who used to be his students. The volunteer fire company captain needed psychiatric treatment,” Hrvoje Lalić continued in the official report. 

It took ten years for the state to settle with Frane Lučić. It was decided that the compensation would be 1.75 million kuna, that he would be paid two monthly rents - 1500 kuna for medical preparations and food and 4500 kuna for help and care. He was also reimbursed for 617 thousand kuna in court costs, all of which, with default interest, amounted to around 5 million kuna as of 2009.

In September 2009, the government commissioned the Ministries of Culture, Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Construction and Physical Planning to announce a call for proposals for the Kornati tragedy memorial's conceptual design, so that it would be completed by the anniversary in 2010. On January 29, 2010, it was announced that Zadar architect Nikola Bašić would design the memorial. The plan was to have crosses made of stones as found on the island, which would fit into the landscape. The memorial crosses on Kornati were completed on May 23, 2010.

Due to the announced strong southern winds, the commemoration for firefighters will not be held on Sunday, August 30, but on Tuesday, September 1.

The commemoration will begin with a service of words for the fallen firefighters in the Chapel of St. Florian at 10 am, after which the envoys of the President of the Republic of Croatia, the Croatian Parliament, and the Government will lay a wreath.

Representatives of Sibenik-Knin County, the cities of Sibenik and Vodice, the municipalities of Tisno and Murter-Kornati, the Croatian Fire Brigade, the Sibenik-Knin County Fire Brigade and the Kornati National Park will light candles.

Today, we remember Dino Klarić, Ivica Crvelin, Ivan Marinović, Marko Stančić, Gabrijel Skočić, Hrvoje Strikoman, Ante Crvelin, Tomislav Crvelin, Josip Lučić, Karlo Ševerdija, Marinko Knežević and Ante Juričev Mikulin. Twelve lives gone too soon. May they never be forgotten.

You can read more about the Kornati tragedy here. 

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ZAGREB, August 31, 2019 - Croatia today remembers the greatest tragedy in the history of firefighting in the country which occurred on 30 August 2007 on the Kornat island, when 12 firefighters were killed, and a central commemoration was held by the firefighters' families and Interior Minister Davor Božinović at stone crosses that were erected on the island in their memory.

Frano Lučić was the only surviving firefighter of the tragedy. A large number of firefighters from around the country also attended the commemoration.

"I spoke to the families of the killed firefighters today. I empathise with their pain, which is not easy to bear. That is burden that is difficult to live with," Božinović said.

He could not comment on the judicial epilogue of the case which is currently being heard before the Supreme Court.

What awaits us now is to see what the epilogue of that procedure will be. As far as institutions are concerned, they are prepared at any given moment to act if there is any indication or need for that and if requested by relevant authorities, Božinović said.

National Fire Chief Slavko Tucaković said that everyone wishes that a tragedy of this nature never occurs again. He added that he believes that the system has been improved compared to 12 years ago.

Šibenik Fire Chief Dražen Slavica was tried for negligence that led to the death of the 12 firefighters on Kornat island. However, he was acquitted of the charges in two trials, for the second time in April last year.

More news about firefighting in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

August 30, 2019 - The Kornati tragedy occurred on August 30, 2007, when a group of firefighters fell victim to a blaze on the island of Kornati. Of the 13 firefighters in the group, 12 died on the spot or in hospitals, and only one survived - Frane Lučić from Tisno. The event is considered the most terrible disaster since the Croatian War of Independence, with officials dying on duty. 

“An unprecedented firefighters´ tragedy happened on the Kornati Islands in Dalmatia, Croatia on August 30, 2007. This is the most terrible disaster since the Croatian War of Independence, with officials dying on duty. The underbrush on the barren, uninhabited side of the island caught fire and firefighters were called to help. As the summer is the season of fires, Croatia had lent a fire-fighting plane to Greece to help fight their fires. So there was an urgent need for another means of transportation and a military helicopter was used to transport firefighters and a water container. The helicopter MI-8 MTV-1 disembarked the water container at one spot, firefighters at another and left. That military helicopter has remained the issue of later speculations. Namely, in “Novi tjednik”, a Dalmatia daily, a shocking article by journalist Jelena Devcic was published entitled “Proofs buried, cleaning fluid on the ground”. It has been speculated that the helicopter hit a rock during maneuvering, and besides a blown tire the tank was damaged with oil and petrol leaking because some oily stains were found on the rocks. The firefighters were soon surrounded by burning underbrush and they burned out.

According to the official expertise that was done later, it was concluded that it was a burn-out of an inhomogeneous gas mixture which occurred by burning vegetation accompanied by strong winds. A similar rare phenomenon was described in Australia in 2003 near Canberra and in Corsica in 2000 near the place Palasca. Besides our leading forensic experts, the leading world firefighting experts were invited to the Republic of Croatia who came to reconstruct the disaster, to find out the dynamics and kinetics of fire, its speed and direction it spreads, height and position of the flame and to assess the freed thermal energy,” reads the official report from Hrvoje Lalić, Professor, Specialist in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Rijeka Medical School. 

Six firefighters from the Šibenik fire department were killed - Dino Klarić, Ivica Crvelin, Ivan Marinović, Marko Stančić, Gabrijel Skočić and Hrvoje Strikoman, and seven more survived with severe burns on the body - five of which were transferred for treatment in Zagreb (Tomislav Crvelin, Ante Crvelin, Josip Lučić, Karlo Ševerdija and Marinko Knežević) who soon died from the consequences of severe burns. The only surviving firefighter, Frane Lučić, was discharged for home treatment after recovering at Split Clinical Hospital.

The central celebration of the 12th anniversary of the Kornati tragedy will take place on Friday on the island of Kornati. 

"We don't know the truth, and I don't think I'll live to see it, and I doubt anyone will tell it. It is very sad, after 12 years, that no one is responsible for 12 lives, it is very sad,” said Ajka Crvelin, wife and mother of the deceased firefighters, told RTL.

It took ten years for the state to finally settle with Frane Lučić, the only surviving Kornati firefighter. It was decided that the compensation would be 1.75 million kuna, that he would be paid two monthly rents - 1500 kuna for medical preparations and food and 4500 kuna for help and care. He will also be reimbursed for 617 thousand kuna in court costs, all of which, with default interest, will amount to about 5 million kuna as of 2009.

County Fire Commander Dražen Slavica was the only one charged with the Kornati tragedy, the only potential culprit for the death of 12 of his colleague. DORH charged the then fire commander with numerous failures in organizing the intervention, referring minors to the fire, delaying assistance to the victims, etc. At the end of April 2018, he was finally acquitted of all guilt in a repeated trial. 

An eruptive fire is an official explanation initially presented to the public as the cause of the accident.

“It has been shown that the temperature at the fire site was over 1200°C and it explained the cause of such a sporadic fire. The cause was the burn-out of an inhomogeneous gas mixture due to the burning of vegetation which was carried by a strong wind that swept over the firemen.

The idea that the kerosene from the army helicopter caught fire was discarded as unfounded and improbable. It was the seasonal receptionist in the Kornati National Park whose cigarette butt started the chain of unfortunate events.

The last question refers to the events after the disaster – why did it take hours to transport the casualties from the island to the mainland, late at night by a naval vessel. Only one fireman survived. Because of the developed PTSD and the undergoing of treatment, he is not able to comprehend the whole event, but he is aware of his colleagues´ death. He was transplanted to Bratislava, Slovakia to have his skin cultivated. He wishes to return to everyday life but has a long rehabilitation before him. In principle, most patients return to work after burn injuries. Of course, it depends on the type and severity of the injury, which often requires a long and intensive hospital therapy as well as other out-hospital treatments. Major burns consequentially lead to the failure of organs, sepsis and shock. The survivors often get damaged muscle-skeletal and circulation systems, but also mental disorders. Deformities, loss of body parts (like the Kornati survivor with a finger handicap), may trigger serious psychological problems. Social support, the role of family and partners is of great importance. It is not only the direct victims that are mentally scarred. Three weeks after the Kornati tragedy, the volunteer fire company secretary hanged himself. He was a high-school teacher and knew the young victims who used to be his students. The captain of the volunteer fire company needed psychiatric treatment,” Hrvoje Lalić continued in the official report. 

In September 2009, the government commissioned the Ministries of Culture, Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Construction and Physical Planning to announce a call for proposals for the conceptual design of the Kornati tragedy memorial, so that it would be completed by the anniversary in 2010. On January 29, 2010, it was announced that the competition for the memorial was won by Zadar architect Nikola Bašić. The plan was to have the design of crosses made up of stones as found on the island, which would fit into the landscape. The memorial crosses on the Kornati islands were completed on May 23, 2010.

Today, we remember Dino Klarić, Ivica Crvelin, Ivan Marinović, Marko Stančić, Gabrijel Skočić, Hrvoje Strikoman, Ante Crvelin, Tomislav Crvelin, Josip Lučić, Karlo Ševerdija, Marinko Knežević and Ante Juričev Mikulin. Twelve lives gone too soon. May they never be forgotten.

You can read more about the Kornati tragedy here. 

Excerpts translated from Dalmacija Danas.

ZAGREB, August 30, 2018 - A wreath-laying ceremony was held outside the firefighting station in the coastal city of Šibenik to mark the start of events commemorating 12 volunteer firefighters from Šibenik, Vodice and Tisno who were killed while trying to put out a wildfire on Kornat island on 30 August 2007.

The worst Croatian firefighter tragedy took place on August 30, 2007.

Torcida will remember the heroism of the firefighters that lost their lives on the island of Kornati 10 years ago.