Montenegro battles wildfires as all firefighting aircraft deployed

Montenegro has deployed its entire firefighting aviation fleet to tackle wildfires in open areas in the west and south of the country, Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said on X.

He also thanked the specialists working to contain fires in the municipalities of Herceg Novi, near the borders with Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in the area of Ulcinj, near the border with Albania, Caliber.Az reports.

Veliko poštovanje i zahvalnost svim našim pilotima i vatrogascima koji se neumorno bore sa vatrenom stihijom u Herceg Novom i Ulcinju.
U veoma zahtjevnim akcijama koristimo cjelokupan kapacitet, što znači da su na terenu sva tri Air Tractor- u državnom vlasništvu. Pomenute… pic.twitter.com/Pl3feVf4Gx

— Milojko Spajić (@MickeySpajic) August 16, 2026

“We are using all available capabilities, which means that all three Air Tractors owned by the state have been deployed. Together, these aircraft can carry 9,000 liters of water, while a major reinforcement is the leased An-32P Firekiller, which delivers 8,000 liters of water on a single sortie,” Spajić wrote.

According to the prime minister, Montenegro’s firefighting capabilities this year are four times greater than last year’s. The country’s army is also providing support with a helicopter.

A major fire broke out in the municipality of Herceg Novi on the night of August 13. The blaze on the mountain slopes above the Bay of Kotor disrupted a power transmission line and electricity supplies. Residents of several homes were evacuated.

The following day, another fire broke out in the Gač area near the village of Vladimir and within the municipality of Ulcinj.

By Jeyhun Aghazada