Fire in Raštani Under Control
Firefighters managed to bring the blaze near Mostar under control on Thursday afternoon, and after extinguishing, the focus will shift to restoring the railway line to Sarajevo.
Firefighters managed to bring the blaze near Mostar under control on Thursday afternoon, and after extinguishing, the focus will shift to restoring the railway line to Sarajevo.
On Thursday, shortly before noon, a fire broke out in Raštani near Mostar, which is now under control, with crews from the Mostar Professional Fire Brigade (PVP) currently engaged in cleanup and extinguishing operations. The buildings are protected and no longer at risk, confirmed firefighter Draženko Lovrić of PVP Mostar.
While all available firefighting units were on the ground, residents of Raštani, whose homes are in close proximity to the fire, also joined the efforts. They used basins, buckets, and hoses to defend their homes, and photos from the scene show charred structures. The wind posed an additional challenge, threatening to accelerate the spread of the flames.
The fire occurred near the railway tracks on the Mostar - Sarajevo line, and the exact extent of damage to structures in the settlement at the time of the outbreak was not known. Draženko Lovrić stated that once the fire is fully extinguished, work will begin on restoring the railway to allow train traffic to resume.
Mostar firefighters shifted their focus to Raštani after extinguishing a morning fire in Ilići, where solid waste piled against a transformer station had caught fire. This was not the only fire in the Herzegovina region that day.
Meanwhile, a fire remains active in the Konjic area, specifically in the villages of Kanjina, Živašnica, Brđani, Džepi, and on Džepska Mountain. Firefighting units from various parts of the country are involved: the Jablanica Professional Fire Unit, the Sarajevo Canton Professional Fire Brigade, firefighters from Hadžići and Tarčin, as well as members of the Prozor Volunteer Fire Department.
Firefighters from that area have reported that they are at the end of their strength. Additional difficulties are caused by the condition of the fire trucks from Konjic, as several are out of order, and some have damaged tires and brakes, reducing their operational capacity.
The City of Konjic has officially requested international assistance in the form of aerial firefighting. Regarding aerial interventions, helicopters from the Armed Forces of BiH and those from the RS entity have been involved in the suppression efforts. The main goal is to stop the fire from spreading from Džepska Mountain toward the nearby settlements of Brđani and Džepi.
