Hvar Observatory almost destroyed in a forest fire

Last Updated on Sunday, 16 September 2018 22:07 Written by Jaša Čalogović Wednesday, 12 September 2018 12:31

A forest fire broke out at a distance of 500 meters from the Hvar Observatory on Tuesday, September 11, 2018, at about 4:30 pm. Since the very strong wind was blowing in the direction of the Observatory, the fire spreaded quickly to the telescope domes and Napoleon fortress. The dome of Austrian-Croatian telescope was saved from fire that approached less than few meters from the building thanks to the great efforts of 40 firefighters from Hvar, Stari Grad and Jelsa. The fire was localized around 6 pm with the help of 3 firefighting planes. Luckily, the bigger damages were avoided and the fire didn’t damage any object of the Observatory Hvar, but in total about 5 ha of low vegetation were burnt down. Pictures and video of the fire near Observatory are available below.


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Firefighting planes over Hvar Observatory
Firefighting planes collecting water in the busy Hvar channel