Suva Planina Fire Contained, Still Burns Near Sokolov Kamen
The Sector for Emergency Situations says the Suva Planina wildfire is under control on most fronts after eight days, though flames still burn between Sokolov Kamen and Mosor.
The wildfire on Suva Planina has been brought under control on most fronts after eight days, authorities announced today before 10:30 a.m. Flames are still burning along a single stretch, between the peaks of Sokolov Kamen and Mosor, where firefighting crews remain on site around the clock.
According to information reported by RTS, local rainfall, fog, and high air humidity helped crews extinguish smaller pockets of fire over the past two days. This is the first time since the fire broke out that only one section of Suva Planina is being described as an active hot spot, with the rest of the mountain under control.
Firefighters are nonetheless staying in the field. The section that is still burning sits on steep, dry terrain where the fire could flare up again even after officially being brought under control there.
How the fire started
The fire broke out on September 4 in the forest above the villages of Veta and Kosmovac, near Bela Palanka. Drought conditions and strong wind allowed it to spread quickly across the entire mountain range, at one point reaching toward the village of Mali Krcimir on the mountain’s eastern side. On Tuesday, the City of Nis declared a state of emergency in part of its territory, in Niska Banja, because of the scale of the fire.
The day before the announcement that the fire was under control, on September 11, 55 personnel from various services were deployed in the field. The previous night, firefighters had held the front line on Kraljev Put, at the point where the road descends toward the lower parts of the mountain, and that same front is still the only place where the fire continues to spread. Srdjan Mitrovic, head of the Sector for Emergency Situations in Nis, described the situation on the ground that day.
“During the night, firefighters held that front line on Kraljev Put, where the road descends toward the lower parts of the mountain.”
He said this while describing conditions in the field on September 11, a day before news came that the fire had been brought under control.
Who fought the fire
According to earlier statements from the Sector, helicopters from Serbia’s Interior Ministry and a Russian Ilyushin aircraft took part in the firefighting effort, while heavy machinery cut a path between Sokolov Kamen and Mosor that also serves as a firebreak. Firefighters worked in 24-hour shifts on the ground, and according to today’s announcement, that will continue for as long as there is a risk that the fire could flare up again on the section that is still burning.
We previously reported on the Suva Planina fire on its eighth day, when the flames reached Kraljev Put. Today marks the first time authorities have said most of the mountain is under control, with only the stretch between Sokolov Kamen and Mosor still active, the same section Mitrovic described a day earlier as the main focus of firefighting crews.
