Suva Planina Wildfire Forces Niska Banja Emergency
Nis city officials declared a state of emergency in part of Niska Banja as the Suva Planina wildfire burns for a sixth day, while machinery cuts a firebreak toward Gornji Mosor.
The Nis City Emergency Situations Staff declared a state of emergency on September 8 covering part of the Niska Banja municipality. The reason is the wildfire on Suva Planina, which crews have now been fighting for six consecutive days. Nis Mayor Dragoslav Pavlovic announced the decision, citing the seriousness of the situation and the need to bring in additional resources.
The fire broke out on Friday, September 4, in a beech forest above the villages of Veta and Kosmovac, near Bela Palanka. From there it spread along the entire mountain ridge, both on the side belonging to the Bela Palanka municipality and on the side belonging to Gadzin Han, around the peaks of Devojacki Grob and Trem. In the days since, the fire has spread from the Devojacki Grob pass to Sokolov Kamen, a part of the mountain that falls within the Nis municipality, specifically Niska Banja.
Declaring the state of emergency allows the City of Nis to deploy additional heavy machinery on the burning slopes. According to information members of the City Staff gave to the Beta news agency, heavy machinery has been sent toward Banja and Mosor, where a road is being widened so fire trucks and other vehicles can reach the difficult terrain. Along that stretch, crews are cutting a firebreak, a kind of barrier from which firefighters are trying to stop the fire before it reaches the outskirts of the village of Gornji Mosor. Pavlovic described the situation as very difficult and praised the major effort of professional firefighters and volunteer fire brigades taking part in the operation.
On the ground are firefighters from the Nis Sector for Emergency Situations, volunteer fire brigades, the Mountain Rescue Service, foresters from Srbijasume, off-road four-wheeler drivers and local residents. An Ilyushin firefighting aircraft from Russia is also taking part in the effort, along with helicopters from Serbia’s Ministry of Interior. Mondo reported on September 8 that three MUP helicopters were in the air. Because the terrain is so hard to reach, motorcyclists on dirt bikes are carrying water to firefighters on the mountain’s highest sections in backpacks, as are local residents on horseback.
On the morning of September 9, Tanjug reported that 44 wildfires were active across Serbia, with a Russian Ilyushin aircraft among those fighting the blaze on Suva Planina specifically. According to the same statement from the Ministry of Interior, police helicopters are also taking part, while most of the forested area is still being defended from the Bela Palanka side.
Srdjan Mitrovic, head of the Nis Sector for Emergency Situations, said the situation this morning was slightly better than the day before, but that the danger has not passed because strong winds are forecast.
We have to be careful, because weather conditions can undo all of the firefighters’ work from the previous day. Today there is strong wind, and we expect problems.
Mitrovic told RTS, adding that firefighting and rescue crews are now battling the Suva Planina fire for a sixth day and that wind is what could, in his words, cause it to flare up again.
The difficult terrain, high temperatures and strong, frequently shifting winds are complicating the firefighting effort, forcing crews to adjust their tactics hour by hour. We covered the fifth day of firefighting in the article Suva Planina: Fifth Day of the Fire, 230 Firefighters on the Ground, when 230 members of firefighting and rescue units were deployed. Six days later, the fire is still not contained, and by declaring a state of emergency, city authorities have cleared the way for additional machinery on exactly the front officials consider most at risk, the one heading toward the village of Gornji Mosor.
