Fire Near Osmakovo on Stara Planina Passes 300 Hectares
The blaze broke out Sunday afternoon in the fields near Osmakovo, close to Pirot, and by Monday morning had tripled in size. No one is hurt and the village has been spared so far.
A fire in the fields of Osmakovo, a village on Stara Planina in the Pirot area, had burned more than 300 hectares of forest and low brush by Monday morning. It broke out on Sunday afternoon, October 4, and firefighters have kept it out of the village itself. Crews from four cities have been sent to help.
How far has the fire spread?
On Sunday evening the fire was estimated at more than 100 hectares of low brush and part of a pine forest. By Monday morning that area had grown to more than 300 hectares.
Dejan Zivkovic, commander of the Fire and Rescue Battalion in Pirot, told RTS that the fire had taken dry grass, low brush, and acacia and pine forest across more than 300 hectares. Several smaller outdoor fires were put out in the Pirot district on Sunday, but the one near Osmakovo is the largest and the fight against it is still under way.
Who is fighting it?
On Sunday, 26 firefighter-rescuers with 17 vehicles from the Pirot Fire and Rescue Battalion worked the fire. They were joined by seven members of the Pirot Volunteer Fire Brigade with three vehicles.
Firefighters stayed on the ground through the night. Zivkovic said reinforcements are coming from Zajecar, Nis, Prokuplje and Leskovac. Available information does not make clear whether they have already joined the effort.
What about the village?
Firefighters stopped the fire from spreading toward the settlement. Several abandoned outbuildings on the edge of the village burned. No one has died or been injured.
Osmakovo lies at the foot of Stara Planina, and the fire started above it, in the fields. Firefighters managed to hold it there on Sunday, which, according to the first reports from the scene, mattered most at that point.
Why is the fire still burning?
The situation on the ground has been much better since this morning, but intermittent strong wind still hampers the work. The burning area is large and varied: dry grass, low brush, acacia and pine, all in the same stretch of land.
A large number of Pirot firefighters remain on the scene. On Sunday there were 33 members of fire units in total, with 20 vehicles. How many people and how much equipment will be deployed once the reinforcements arrive has not been announced. Nor has it been said how long the firefighting will last or when the fire will be brought under control, and the available information gives no cause for the blaze.
