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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

State takes action in timely and professional manner to extinguish fires

Belgrade, 25 July 2007

Serbian Minister of Environmental Protection Sasa Dragin said today that the state reacted in a timely and professional manner to extinguish the forest fires, which broke out in Serbia during the previous days, even though the environment in the affected areas has suffered irreparable damage.

Sasa Dragin

Author: Tanjug

In an interview to the news agency Tanjug, Dragin stressed that the military was engaged in action and helicopters were used during the first day, while fire-fighters organised a watch during the night in order to prevent the fire from spreading.

According to Dragin, the fire that broke out in the area of Mt Stara Planina covering a surface of 200 hectares was controlled and limited to 50 hectares on the very first day. A big problem in these efforts is presented by fires which are controlled during the evening but spread once again the next day.

He explained that a layer of fallen leaves and broken branches is formed on the forest floor which releases methane as it decays, while in pine forests resin evaporates at high temperatures, and these factors contribute to forest fires breaking out.

Minister Dragin said that the damage is always irreparable when the environment is in question, and a special problem is posed by the fact that many affected areas, such as the Mt Stara Planina, contain endemic species.

Dragin pointed to the fact that besides the fires, very high temperatures also bring about faster decay of organic matter in water and lack of oxygen, which combined with industrial wastewater cause havoc in river environment.