Overview
- Serbia activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism on Friday, prompting EU helicopters, firefighters and vehicles to deploy alongside domestic crews to fight the long‑running Deliblatska Pescara fire.
- A Russian Emergencies Ministry Il‑76 water‑bomber has flown repeated sorties from Nis, completing 19 flights and dropping about 798 metric tons of water over four days, officials say.
- EU contributions include four Black Hawk firefighting helicopters plus ground teams and vehicles from Germany and Romania, with additional crews from the Czech Republic and Slovakia already in the air.
- Authorities say the situation is more stable in some zones but fires remain active, strong winds are forecast, and protecting settlements and people remains the immediate priority.
- The blaze has destroyed thousands of hectares of pine forest in the Deliblato Sands nature reserve, raising conservation concerns and highlighting how this summer's heat and drought have stretched regional firefighting resources.