Slovenia gets heroes, firefighters bring the largest fire in the country's history under control

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The largest fire in the history of Slovenia is under control, officials said after visiting the burned areas in the northern part of the Slovenian Karst and thanked exhausted firefighters who fought the fire for seven days, as well as neighboring and other countries for their help.

The fire is finally under control, and a fire watch will guard the fire site, said Prime Minister Robert Golob in a statement to the press after the visit.

He reiterated that the state will cover the costs incurred by the municipalities affected by the fire, will compile a list of material damages, and will develop measures to prevent similar fires that could affect such large areas as happened in this case. "We will adopt a comprehensive and ambitious preventive plan on this by autumn at the latest," Golob said.

Thanking the firefighters and air forces for their dedication over the past seven days, the President of the State Borut Pahor said on Sunday that great solidarity was shown on that occasion, not only in Slovenia but also beyond.

On Saturday, 13 helicopters and aircraft from Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Austria, Hungary and Italy participated in extinguishing the fire. "All this gives us hope that this situation will end soon," Pahor said.

Defense Minister Marjan Šarec, who visited the regional civil protection headquarters in Kostanjevica na Krasu with Golob and Pahor, was also optimistic. "Today there is a visible difference compared to previous days, which were really critical, and I hope that today we will reach the point where we can say that things are under control," Šarec said.

The wind was cited as the greatest risk for firefighters regarding the possible spread of the fire due to the possibility of stronger gusts of bora wind, which fortunately did not occur, so the past night was calmer. Aerial firefighting was concentrated on some smaller new hotspots, and firefighters, more than a thousand of them, continued to water the edges of the fire site today to prevent the fire from spreading.

On the ground during the night from Saturday to Sunday, there were 1,070 firefighters. According to meteorologists' forecasts, more abundant rain in the Slovenian Karst can be expected only on Tuesday.

Volunteers are also on the ground today, who will carry out fire-prevention tree cutting around the endangered villages to prevent the spread of the fire, and so far, fortunately, there has been no major damage to buildings. According to media reports, only one mountain house between the settlements of Renče and Trstelj burned down.

The battle with the fire element lasted seven days over an area larger than two thousand hectares, and the work was hampered by explosive devices left along the Soča River from World War I.