Wildfire in Deliblatska Sands Grows to 1,500 Hectares
A wildfire in the Deliblatska Sands has burned about 1,500 hectares of forest and scrubland. The village of Sumarak was saved, flames did not reach any homes. Serbia has five active fires.
- Fire in the Deliblatska Sands has burned about 1,500 hectares of forest and low vegetation
- Village of Sumarak saved, fire did not reach residential buildings
- State of emergency declared in part of Kovin municipality, in the Dubovac local community
- Five active fires burning across Serbia this morning
- Fire near Usce extinguished at 7 a.m., fire on the Zaracke Mountains also put out
The wildfire burning through the Deliblatska Sands has consumed about 1,500 hectares of forest and low vegetation, according to the situation on the ground on the morning of August 9. The fire is still not under control. Luka Causic, head of the Emergency Situations Sector at Serbia’s Interior Ministry (MUP), said five fires are currently active across the country and that the Deliblatska Sands remains the most demanding of them.
The night was spent holding the fire along its existing line. Crews patrolled around populated areas and put out local flare-ups, while heavy machinery operated by public utility companies cut preventive firebreaks.
“Our people worked all night, they put out local flare-ups, patrolled, especially around populated areas, above all the village of Sumarak. And overnight the heavy machinery of the public utilities that are there, there are a great many people and resources in the Deliblatska Sands, cut firebreaks to protect the villages of Kajtasovo and Grebenac as a precaution,” Causic told Prva TV.
The firebreaks, in other words, were cut around Kajtasovo and Grebenac. Around Sumarak, crews worked differently, patrolling and putting out flare-ups as they appeared.
What Happened to Sumarak
The village has been saved. Ratko Mosurovic, deputy head of Kovin municipality, confirmed to RTS that “the fire did not reach any households or residential buildings.” Earlier in the fire, residents of Sumarak and Cardak had been evacuated from their homes, which makes holding the flames at the edge of the village the first clear turn in several days.
The Kovin Emergency Situations Staff declared a state of emergency in part of the municipality, in the Dubovac local community.
The numbers show how fast the fire has spread. Early reports out of the Sands mentioned more than 700 hectares burned near Sumarak. Today the figure is around 1,500 hectares, meaning the burned area has roughly doubled since then.
How Many Firefighters and Vehicles Are on Site?
32 firefighter rescuers from Kovin, Pancevo, Bela Crkva and Vrsac are deployed at the fire with 12 vehicles, backed up by units from Belgrade, Zrenjanin and Smederevo. The Serbian Army has also joined the firefighting effort at the request of the Emergency Situations Sector.
Three types of aircraft are working from the air:
- H145 helicopter
- H215 Super Puma helicopter
- Kamov Ka-32, sent to the fire as reinforcement
For comparison, on August 8 a total of 484 personnel from various services fought six wildfires across the country. Morning reports say the wind is somewhat weaker than the previous day, but it keeps changing direction, so the fire line keeps shifting.
Where Else Is Serbia Burning?
Two fires were put out during the morning. The fire near Usce was extinguished at 7 a.m. At the same time, the fire on the Zaracke Mountains was also put out, after burning through more than 90 hectares of pine forest and more than 100 hectares of pasture.
Crews freed up from the Zaracke Mountains were moved to the slopes of Stolovi, near Kraljevo. There, the fire is moving through grass, low vegetation and low deciduous forest, spreading quickly but causing less damage to tall forest.
That fire is not a new story. It is a continuation of the blaze from the Ibar Gorge, which we reported on when it burned about 150 hectares and left surrounding villages without power. The front has since moved from the gorge toward the peaks of Stolovi.
Milos Milenkovic, deputy head of the Fire and Rescue Units Administration, described today’s plan to RTS.
“The largest deployment is in the Deliblatska Sands, and I have to stress that as of this morning the situation is manageable. Of course we will keep monitoring it over the coming hours, and today’s main effort is again heavy machinery cutting firebreaks,” Milenkovic said.
The focus, in other words, is on machinery and firebreaks, not water alone. That is the call made when a fire cannot be fought head on, so crews cut a fuel free strip ahead of it instead.
What decides the outcome next is temperature and wind through the day. If the wind picks up again and shifts, the firebreaks near Kajtasovo and Grebenac become the only line between the fire and the houses.
