A young man from the Dalmatian coast has been formally recognised for one of the most dramatic rescues of Croatia's brutal 2026 fire season. Milan Balić, from the seaside settlement of Stanići just outside Omiš, ferried around 60 people to safety by boat when wildfire swept towards the shore in August — and he has now received the Croatian Grand Security Award for bravery.

The award was presented at the 20th Conference of Croatian Security Managers, held at the Hotel Ambasador in Opatija, in the category Brave Act in the Service of Security. The prizes are handed out by the Croatian Association of Security Managers (HUMS), which this year recognised winners across 14 categories, including the City of Split, the City of Zagreb, the State Hydro-meteorological Institute, APIS IT and RTL Danas. True to form, Balić played down his role at the ceremony, saying he simply happened to be at the scene and that plenty of others helped too.

The rescue itself reads like a film script. When flames crossed the coastal road above Stanići, residents and holidaymakers fled to the beach — the only direction left to run. Balić, whose own house sits among the first rows by the shoreline, launched two boats, lashing the smaller vessel to the larger one to double his capacity. He packed elderly men into the towed boat and women, children and injured people into the bigger one, then set off for Omiš in a strong bora wind with thick smoke cutting visibility to almost nothing. His biggest fear, he said, was that the overloaded small boat would sink with injured people aboard.

The drama didn't end at the harbour. As he docked in Omiš, the towed boat capsized and threw its passengers into the sea — all of them were pulled out with help from the army and special police who were waiting on shore. On the beach behind him, people were still shouting for help; there simply hadn't been room for everyone.

For travellers, the story is a stark reminder of what the Dalmatian coast can look like in a hot, dry August — and of how fragile the situation can get in the small villages strung along the coast road between Split and Makarska. It's also a good prompt to take local fire warnings seriously on summer holidays: check alerts during high winds, know where your nearest evacuation point is, and follow instructions from rescue services quickly. Balić's action saved children, pensioners and injured holidaymakers precisely because ordinary people acted fast when the road was cut off.