Dugi Otok fire (Screenshot/Vatrogasci-193)
ZADAR, Croatia, 17 August 2026 – Four people have been arrested in connection with a series of fires deliberately started at 10 locations across Zadar and the wider Zadar County area.
“Police officers from the Zadar Police Department conducted a criminal investigation into three Croatian citizens aged 46, 45 and 42 and a 33-year-old Polish citizen on suspicion of starting fires at ten locations in Zadar County,” the statement said.
The arrests came after police received a report from a member of the public about a fire being started alongside a road in the wider Benkovac area.
Officers quickly located the four suspects travelling in a car with Zadar registration plates.
Police said their investigation had established grounds for suspicion that the four acted according to a prior plan and agreement, deliberately starting fires on 14 and 15 August using open flames or flammable material ignited with a lighter.
The fires were reported in Bili Brig in Zadar, as well as near Zemunik Donji, Galovac, Donje Biljane, Zapužane, Zemunik, Zagrad, Lišane Tinjanske, Škabrnja and Benkovac.
According to inspections carried out so far, a parked vehicle was completely destroyed in the fire at Bili Brig. In another fire between Škabrnja and Zemunik Donji, 43 olive trees belonging to a local owner were destroyed.
The fires were extinguished by firefighters with assistance from Croatia’s aerial firefighting forces. Police said the fires caused significant material damage and that further assessments are continuing to determine the full extent of the losses.
During searches of the suspects’ homes, other premises and vehicles, carried out under a court warrant, police seized a semi-automatic rifle and 44 rounds of ammunition from the 42-year-old man. A pistol and several mobile phones were also seized from the 46-year-old man.
The four suspects were handed over to the detention supervisor and a criminal complaint was submitted to the Municipal State Attorney’s Office in Zadar.
The investigation is continuing in cooperation with prosecutors. Police stressed that the final legal classification of the alleged offences will depend on the facts established during the ongoing proceedings.
Police have not released any names of the arrested as yet.
Source: www.croatiaweek.com
