Historic fires in Slovenia were triggered by unexploded bombs from the First World War
The historic forest fires raging in parts of Europe also set off dozens of bombs from the First World War, which were hidden in Slovenia for more than 100 years, the report says.
The wildfire, the largest in the country since it became an independent country, caused mass evacuations in the southwestern Karst. It is now becoming increasingly dangerous for those trying to stop its spread.
The more than 2,000 people who tried to fight it – including members of the military – prevented dozens of hidden bombs that detonated in the heat and fire. officials told the Slovenian Press Agency (STA).
Shrapnel from the exploded ordnance flew near the firefighters, and no one was injured in the incident.
The additional danger means that “firefighting units cannot penetrate the fire, but can only work at its edges,” Defense Minister Marjan Šarec told the agency.
“Therefore, the fire is intensively extinguished from the air as well,” he said.
Officials stopped counting the number of explosions because of their frequency, the report said. Only the shooting ranges near the roads needed by the crews were marked, said Darko Zonjič from the state unit for protection against UXO.
“Temperatures at the incinerator are much higher” than at any time in the 104 years since the end of the First World War, which, according to Zonjic, is the cause of the explosions.
Slovenia is just one of the European countries suffering from the worst wildfires, as temperatures across the continent rise to deadly records.
1,000 people have already died in Portugal, and France, Italy and Spain are also fighting the flames.