Nearly 700 British tourists fled into the sea using small boats to escape a wildfire at the Gava Waterman Milna Resort on Croatia's Brac island. The emergency unfolded on a Saturday night after hotel staff and tour operator TUI failed to provide timely evacuation orders as flames approached the resort.
A 20-foot wall of fire at the Gava Waterman Milna Resort
The wildfire on Croatia's Brac island, which began with lightning strikes on Thursday, rapidly approached the Milna area on the east coast. As the flames moved toward the Gava Waterman Milna Resort, the situation turned from a distant threat to a life-threatening crisis in minutes. According to the report, an announcement at 10:00 PM told guests the fire was not a threat and encouraged them to "relax with a drink," even as the blaze moved toward the property.
British traveler Josh Robbins observed that a wall of fire was only 20 feet from the hotel's front doors just five minutes after that 10:00 PM announcement. With the resort's sliding glass doors locked and reception staff having already fled the scene in their vehicles, guests were left with almost no traditional exit routs. This forced travelers to sprint toward the shoreline in a desperate attempt to escape the encroaching blaze.
The 90-minute delay in TUI's evacuation message
Many guests had booked all-inclusive packages through TUI costing £1,800 per week, yet the response to the crisis was described as non-existent. The report states that TUI did not send an official evacuation message until approximately 11 :30 PM, which was well after the tourists had already been forced into the water to escape. This delay left nearly 700 people to fend for themselves during the most critical window of the fire's approach.
Management at the Gava Waterman Milna Resort faced scrutiny for actions that appeared to exacerbate the panic. The resort's owner reportedly cut power to the building at 9:35 PM, a move that further hindered escape efforts, while staff's primary response was to eliminate fire hoses to keep paths clear. this lack of organized evacuation planning meant that panic set in as the fierce fire threatened to engulf the entire resort.
50 local boats and the rescue in Milna
A flotilla of approximately 50 local boats arrived at the shoreline of Brac to rescue the stranded tourists around 11:00 PM. These local rescuers helped move the group from the beach to safety, a feat of community heroism that prevented any reported injuries. Without this spontaneous intervention by the local community, the scale of the potential tragedy could have been much greater.
Following the sea evacuation, the tourists were transferred to the nearby coastal city of Split for temporary accommodation. Local residents in the area were noted for their generosity, providing clothes, blankets, and spare rooms to those traumatized by the ordeal, as noted by English-speaking tourist Lorraine Pearce. Pearce used social media to praise these locals while lamenting the total lack of an immediate alarm or evacuation protocol from the official providers.
What caused the Gava Waterman Milna Resort's communication breakdown?
While the Croatian firefighting teams eventually brought the blaze under control, several critical questions remain regarding the responsibility of the service providers. a TUI spokesperson acknowledged the "distressing experience" but failed to provide a detailed explanation for the significant delay in their communication.. The absence of a clear,immediate alarm system remains a primary concern for those traveling in disaster-prone regions.
It remains unverified why the resort staff chose to lock the main doors and flee in their cars while guests were still inside, and why the resort owner decided to cut the power so close to the arrival of the flames. The incident highlights a massive gap in the legal and ethical obligations that travel operators hold when natural disasters threaten their clients. The trauma experienced by these 700 travelers serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerability of holidaymakers during environmental crises.
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