The fire in the Neum municipality, Bosnia and Herzegovina's south, has spread to the north due to strong wind and inaccessible terrain, and it is now getting closer to the populated areas.

Neum firefighters hope for the assistance in extinguishing the fire from the air, otherwise, they claim, it will be impossible to localise the blaze. According to still unconfirmed information, there is only one helicopter of the Bosnian Armed Forces that is currently putting out the fire in the Konjic area, north of Neum, where the situation with wildfires is also difficult.

“What we feared has happened. Late last night, a fire broke out at the top of Zaba mountain. The fire, carried by the strong wind, is spreading further towards the populated villages of Cerevo and Mramor,” said Marko Topalovic, the Neum Municipal Civil Protection administration.

According to him, the fire is now only two kilometers away from the village.

“Due to the wind, whose intensity could increase in the afternoon, we are afraid that the fire could reach those villages,” Topalovic said, adding that the assistance of the army's helicopter was also requested this morning.

Six firefighters are currently extinguishing the fire.

The local authorities in Neum declared a state of natural disaster, due to the large wildfire that broke out in the area of this coastal town on August 2.