Wildfires in Mt. Tara, near Kuršumlija

Hot weather has caused fires to spread in Mt. Tara in the west and near Kursumlija in the south of the country Saturday. The wildfires near the town of Kursumlija, close to the administrative boundary with Kosovo, are under control, Assistant Interior Minister Predrag Maric told journalists this evening. Wildfires in Mt. Tara, near Kursumlija "The problem is no one on the Kosovo side is putting the fires out," he added. "To make matters more difficult, not only is no one on the Kosovo side engaged in extinguishing fires, but the area has many left-over mines and explosives, which makes night-time operations very complicated," Maric added. Meantime, Beta quoted state forestry management company Srbijasume head, Branislav Prolovic, as saying that the fire had spread to four villages in the region, where six private houses and one elementary school burned to the ground. No casualties were reported. "The blaze has spread to 15 hectares. Firefighters from Prokuplje and Kursumlija are at the scene, and as we speak we expect backup from Nis." "What makes it difficult to surround the fire area is that one side of it is located in the ground security zone near Kosovo," Maric explained earlier Saturday. Srbijasume has issued an appeal to the firefighters from neighboring towns, troops and police to join in efforts to contain the wildfires. Meanwhile, the Tara National Park also reported fires, most likely started by a strike of lightning, which spread to 15 hectares of forest in the mountainous area near the border with Bosnia. Maric said the Tara blaze was under control. Earlier, reports blamed extremely high temperatures for a record number of wildfires reported in the Prokuplje municipality, also in the south. The Head of Prokuplje police emergency and rescue unit, Srdjan Mitrovic, told Beta five forest fires raged across a 200 hectare stretch covered in bushes, pine and oak trees in villages of Staro Momcilovo, Donja Recica, Bresnica and Zdravinje. The largest fire hit the village of Koncic, engulfing 100 hectares of forest, vineyards and orchards, spreading onto the village itself. All available firefighters from the area managed to contain the blaze Friday evening. "The fire that spread to two houses and a barn at the entry to the village was finally stopped from with an immense effort of the firefighters and the locals that joined in to help," Mitrovic said.

Wildfires in Mt. Tara, near Kuršumlija

"The problem is no one on the Kosovo side is putting the fires out," he added.

"To make matters more difficult, not only is no one on the Kosovo side engaged in extinguishing fires, but the area has many left-over mines and explosives, which makes night-time operations very complicated," Marić added.

Meantime, Beta quoted state forestry management company Srbijašume head, Branislav Prolović, as saying that the fire had spread to four villages in the region, where six private houses and one elementary school burned to the ground.

No casualties were reported.

"The blaze has spread to 15 hectares. Firefighters from Prokuplje and Kuršumlija are at the scene, and as we speak we expect backup from Niš."

"What makes it difficult to surround the fire area is that one side of it is located in the ground security zone near Kosovo," Marić explained earlier Saturday.

Srbijašume has issued an appeal to the firefighters from neighboring towns, troops and police to join in efforts to contain the wildfires.

Meanwhile, the Tara National Park also reported fires, most likely started by a strike of lightning, which spread to 15 hectares of forest in the mountainous area near the border with Bosnia.

Marić said the Tara blaze was under control.

Earlier, reports blamed extremely high temperatures for a record number of wildfires reported in the Prokuplje municipality, also in the south.

The Head of Prokuplje police emergency and rescue unit, Srđan Mitrović, told Beta five forest fires raged across a 200 hectare stretch covered in bushes, pine and oak trees in villages of Staro Momčilovo, Donja Rečica, Bresnica and Zdravinje.

The largest fire hit the village of Končić, engulfing 100 hectares of forest, vineyards and orchards, spreading onto the village itself.

All available firefighters from the area managed to contain the blaze Friday evening.

"The fire that spread to two houses and a barn at the entry to the village was finally stopped from with an immense effort of the firefighters and the locals that joined in to help," Mitrović said.