While the situation in Deliblatska peščara is calming down, firefighters are still fighting a series of fires across the country, and President Aleksandar Vučić declares that Serbia is a "giant" in terms of firefighting equipment. However, according to the latest reports, Serbia lacks firefighters, he writes New economy.
Vladimir Jakovljević, a professor at the Faculty of Security in Belgrade, believes that Serbia still lacks about 3.000 firefighters to cover the entire territory of the country.
"There are never enough firefighters... It's a constant report, if you follow, you can see that the numerical state of manpower is lacking," Jakovljević told Nova Ekonomija.
According to the report of the State Audit Institution, published a year and a half ago, Serbia had about 3.500 firefighters-rescuers in the Department for Emergency Situations of the MUP and another 1.500 members of volunteer firefighting units.
As the SAI determined at the time, in Serbia there is one firefighter-rescuer per 1.865 inhabitants, while the European standard is one per thousand.
New firefighters "just a drop in the ocean"
Professor Jakovljević says that every year a competition is announced and around 300 new firefighters complete the training, but when it is spread over the entire territory of Serbia, it is "just a drop in the ocean". Also, some retire in the meantime.
If the fires are in an open area, such as the fire in Deliblatska peščara, it is certainly necessary to engage additional forces, as the Serbian Army engaged, Jakovljević said.
More than 1.500 hectares of forest and low vegetation burned in Deliblatska peščara in just a few days, the media reports. Although this fire has been brought under control, it is still burning on Stolovi near Kraljevo, and the fire is spreading below the town of Šošanica due to the strong wind.
The fire near Stolov is extinguished by reinforced teams of the Department for Emergency Situations and the Helicopter Unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, "Srbijašum" workers, volunteer fire brigades, "Corridor of Serbia" workers, volunteers and local residents.
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