Fire Near Ostrog Monastery: Army Helicopter Joins Battle
A fire broke out last night some hundred meters from Ostrog Monastery and eased by morning, with a Montenegrin army helicopter joining the firefighting effort at nine a.m.
Ostrog Monastery, one of the most important shrines of the Serbian people and a destination for pilgrims from across Serbia and the region, spent two days within close range of a fire that broke out on the slopes above Niksic. Firefighters could not reach it overnight because of the rugged terrain, and an army helicopter took over the firefighting effort this morning.
Niksic firefighters were alerted to the blaze on Thursday, September 10, shortly after 8 p.m., close to the monastery itself. Sources differ on exactly how near the fire came to the shrine: the outlet N1 puts the flames at 100 to 150 meters from the monastery grounds, while the outlet Aktuelno reports the fire was about a kilometer away as the crow flies.
The inaccessible terrain kept crews from approaching the flames overnight, so only one crew stayed on site in case complications arose. Goran Tripkovic, commander of the Niksic Protection and Rescue Service unit, said this morning, September 11, that the fire’s intensity had eased considerably in the meantime.
“We were on site all night with one crew on standby in case of complications. Today we’ll try to get close and put out this fire,” Tripkovic said.
He explained that the terrain itself, along with relatively cool overnight temperatures, had slowed the fire’s spread. From nine in the morning, a helicopter from the Montenegrin Armed Forces joined the effort, its arrival announced by Slavko Tadic, head of the Niksic Protection Service.
“From nine o’clock, a helicopter from the Montenegrin Armed Forces is coming to our aid,” Tadic said, adding that the situation near Ostrog was under control and that he expected the crew to finish the job today and move on to other fire sites, which he said were not small.
Was the monastery at risk?
Danilovgrad municipality president Aleksandar Grgurovic said that Ostrog Monastery and its grounds were not under threat despite the fire’s proximity. Milos Vukotic of the Niksic Protection Service said much the same, stressing that the monastery itself was not in danger, even though the fire moving toward Ostrog was still active this morning.
Vukotic, however, voiced suspicion that the fires around Niksic did not start on their own. He said the locations where the flames broke out, together with the weather conditions on those days, point to arson. He added that identifying those responsible is extremely difficult, since a person who starts a fire typically leaves the area before anyone notices.
What else is burning near Niksic?
Ostrog is not the only hot spot near the city. According to the Protection Service, Niksic firefighters were simultaneously battling blazes at several other locations:
- Budos
- Mislov Do
- Meduzedje
- Golija
Vukotic said between 63 and 64 service members were in the field, worn out after days of nonstop response work. Given the large number of fires, heavy smoke and poor air quality, he suggested authorities consider declaring a state of emergency.
Vukotic also warned that Niksic has effectively been living under emergency conditions for about a month because of the fires and heavy smoke, with especially harsh effects on children and people with chronic illnesses. No official announcement of a state of emergency has been made so far.
The firefighting effort continues today, and Ostrog, which draws pilgrims from across Serbia, remains under the watch of firefighters and the Montenegrin Armed Forces helicopter.
