Suva Planina Fire Rages for Second Day, Reaches Trem Trail
A wildfire above villages near Bela Palanka is burning for a second day and spreading toward Gadzin Han. The flames have reached the trail leading to Trem, the highest peak of Suva Planina.
The wildfire that broke out yesterday, September 4, above the Bela Palanka villages of Kosmovac and Veta is burning for a second day in a row. By this morning it had spread to both sides of the Suva Planina mountain range, to the part belonging to the Bela Palanka municipality and to the part belonging to Gadzin Han, the Emergency Situations Administration in Nis confirmed.
According to the head of that administration, Srdjan Mitrovic, a large number of firefighters and workers from Srbijasume, the state forestry company, are on the ground. His statement, given to the Beta agency, was carried by the N1 portal. Mitrovic said strong wind and a thick layer of dry leaves in the beech forest that caught fire are making the firefighting effort even harder.
The fire is most active around the Devojacki Grob mountain junction, at 1,300 meters above sea level, through which the trail to Trem, the highest peak of Suva Planina, passes. The Trem 1810 mountaineering society from Donji Dusnik warned hikers on social media to stay away from that part of the mountain, since the fire has reached the trail itself.
Because the terrain is hard to access, a Russian Ilyushin firefighting plane joined the effort for a second day. It flew two runs yesterday and flew over the fire site again this morning. Firefighters, foresters and residents of nearby villages are carrying backpacks of water for kilometers up steep mountain trails to reach the places where the fire is burning.
As of this morning, according to foresters involved in the firefighting effort, the spread of the fire toward the part of Suva Planina that belongs to Nis and toward the Bojanine Vode excursion site has been stopped. Besides firefighters from Nis and members of volunteer fire societies, mountaineers and residents of villages at the foot of the mountain are also on the ground. Late last night, students taking part in the blockade at the University of Nis joined the firefighting effort as well, after calling on physically fit people through citizen assemblies to come out to the field.
On the same day, September 4, around 1 p.m., another fire broke out near the village of Sopot in the Pirot area. Several weekend houses and outbuildings burned down, along with about 30 hectares of vegetation, though no one was injured. The fire was put out by a firefighting and rescue battalion from Pirot, volunteers and public utility workers, and was brought under control the same day.
Srpske Novine reported yesterday that the fires on Stolovi and Goc had been localized, while around 20 fires remained active across Serbia. Suva Planina has now joined the list of active hot spots, with the most demanding terrain for firefighting crews so far.
