Svrljig Wildfire Spreads Under Gramada, Threatens Crops

A wildfire broke out this afternoon in part of the Svrljig municipality, in the direction of Mount Lipnica. Municipality president Miroslav Markovic said the situation is far from harmless, since wind and a prolonged drought are speeding up the spread of the flames.

Markovic spoke in the afternoon hours, in front of the Emergency Situations Headquarters, roughly an hour after the fire broke out.

“We’re currently in the field, in front of the Emergency Situations Headquarters. Unfortunately, a part of our municipality’s territory was hit by a fire about an hour ago, and firefighting crews are on site. The Svrljig municipality has also activated a general purpose unit, given that the situation is not at all harmless. We know we’re dealing with a severe drought, and there’s wind, so the fire is spreading relatively fast,” Markovic told Tanjug.

According to him, firefighting crews went into the field as soon as the fire broke out and have been working to bring it under control ever since. The municipality also activated its general purpose unit, on the assessment that the fire could quickly spread over a larger area given the weather conditions.

Fire threatens residents’ crops and property

The burning area lies below Gramada, toward Mount Lipnica. Markovic warned that the fire in that stretch threatens the crops and property of residents who live there or own land there, not just unclaimed forest and farmland.

“We know we’re dealing with a severe drought, and there’s wind, so the fire is spreading relatively fast,” the municipality president said, explaining why the flames are advancing faster than firefighting crews alone can contain on such large and uneven terrain.

Because of that, he issued a direct appeal to residents whose crops and land are in the fire’s path, asking them to head into the field themselves and join firefighters in putting it out.

“I’m appealing to all my fellow citizens who have crops and property in this part of Svrljig, below Gramada toward Lipnica, to go out into the field themselves, to try to join the firefighters and help if they can, so that we can bring this fire under control faster,” Markovic said.

The appeal was addressed specifically to the owners of crops and land in that part of the municipality, not to residents in general, and concerns physical help on the ground while firefighting crews battle the fire’s main front.

General purpose unit as an added resource

Activating the general purpose unit means the municipality, alongside professional firefighting crews, is also sending in its own civilian resource, typically made up of local residents and municipal machinery, used when regular forces cannot cover the entire affected area on their own. Markovic justified the decision by describing the situation as “not at all harmless,” suggesting the municipality is bracing for a longer and harder firefighting effort than a smaller blaze that gets contained quickly.

As of Markovic’s statement, no homes or outbuildings had been reported damaged by the fire, and no injuries had been reported. No estimate of the burned area had been released either, nor was it stated whether firefighting support had been requested from neighboring municipalities or from aircraft.

The cause of the fire is not yet known, and the relevant services have not yet given an exact figure for the size of the affected area. Svrljig is located in eastern Serbia, in a region repeatedly hit by drought this summer, which, according to the municipality president, is one of the main reasons the fire is now spreading faster than would be expected at this time of year.