ĆURIĆ: SITUATION HAS WORSENED, BUT PEOPLE AND BUILDINGS ARE NOT AT RISK

TREBINJE, AUGUST 28 /SRNA/ - Trebinje Mayor Mirko Ćurić said today that no lives or buildings in the city are currently at risk, but that the situation has deteriorated significantly following a fire near the city landfill in Obodina.

“This is a new fire at Obodina that threatens to engulf the city landfill, and we know that an environmental disaster would occur if it catches fire,” Ćurić told reporters at the Obodina landfill above Trebinje.

Ćurić said the fire line is around 30 kilometres long and that around 150 people are fighting the blaze, including professional firefighters, local residents and public utility workers.

He said that the area around the landfill where bulky waste is stored had already caught fire earlier and was causing difficulties and problems.

Ćurić said that the wind had carried the fire across the main road in the area, and that the blaze had spread toward Strač Hill and the populated area of Gučina, which is covered by pine forest that serves as the city’s lungs.

“That is why we have redirected all our forces from other fire sites to this area, and we expect an additional 20 members of the Armed Forces of BiH to arrive soon, along with an Armed Forces of BiH helicopter. An Air Tractor has also set off from Mostar for Trebinje,” Ćurić said.

He stressed that they were also in contact with Republika Srpska Prime Minister Savo Minić and the leadership of the Republic Administration of Civil Protection, and that it had been agreed to mobilize units in the area of Istočno Sarajevo to head towards Trebinje.

Ćurić said they had also asked the Republic Administration of Civil Protection to contact other units in the region and send them to Trebinje.

Firefighters from Bileća and Herceg Novi are also on the ground, and a vehicle from Nikšić is expected to arrive in Trebinje soon.

Ćurić stressed that Trebinje’s firefighters were exhausted from constantly battling wildfires, adding that a vehicle caught fire on its own this morning due to overuse.

“The most important thing is to protect human lives, and someone has to be in charge of them. We are now in control of the situation and hope that there will be no problems,” Ćurić said, adding that he hoped they would manage to contain the fire front as well as the one moving towards Strač.

He added that police were doing their part to determine the causes of the fires near the Obodina landfill and identify those responsible.

He pointed out that the fire that has been raging for days in the area around Trebinje started in the Ivanica area, in the municipality of Ravno.

Stevan Bekan, head of the City Emergency Management Headquarters, stressed that neither lives nor homes were at risk and that none of the people fighting the fire had been injured, although they were exhausted and extremely fatigued.

He said they would not give up until they had brought the blaze under control, urging residents not to worry, although the situation was sometimes extremely difficult.

After a state of emergency was declared due to the fires in the Zupci local community and the Obodina area, Bekan explained that this meant increased support from the entity-level authorities and neighboring local communities so that they could obtain additional resources to fight the fires.

He thanked everyone from Trebinje and other municipalities who have been fighting the fires around the city around the clock, stressing that everyone is proud of them because they are the heroes of Trebinje.