Fires localised: Firefighters celebrating rain

The fire on the Lovcen mountain has finally been localised, the Civil Protection and Rescue Service announced. The rain that fell on Thursday afternoon put out much of the fire.

This photo best shows how much relief the rain brought to the firefighters who were fighting the wildfires for days.

The reaction of Cetinje firefighter Marko Popovic, who rejoiced when the rain in Lovcen started, speaks volumes.

Firefighters also celebrated in front of the Cetinje fire station:

Cetinje firefighters drove their vehicles through the old capital to mark bringing the operation to an end. Citizens of Cetinje welcomed them, thus expressing their gratitude for the enormous efforts invested in fighting the fires.

The government also commended firefighters, members of the Armed Forces of Montenegro (VCG) and volunteers on its Twitter account:

Vaše požrtvovanje zaslužuje divljenje svih nas.

— Vlada Crne Gore (@VladaCG) August 17, 2017

The Cetinje PR Service announced that all the fires in the territory of Cetinje were under control and that they were localized thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the members of the Civil Rescue and Protection Service, who were assisted by colleagues from other cities, VCG members, Interior Ministry’s officers and a large number of citizens.

The rain that started at about 4.30pm helped the operation. The teams of the protection service will also be on duty tonight in case an intervention is needed.

Mayor of Cetinje Aleksandar Bogdanovic visited the site along with the director of Montenegro National Parks Elvir Klico and the head of Interior Ministry’s Directorate of Emergency Situations Mirsad Mulic. Bogdanovic said he expects the situation to be fully stabilised and pointed out that the most important thing was to save the lives of people and property.

He thanked firefighters for their efforts to save every house that were endangered.