Ministry of Interior: Situation more stable tonight, fires under control in Herceg Novi, Ulcinj, Kotor, Danilovgrad and Kolašin

The situation at the fire sites in Montenegro is more stable tonight, and all competent services continue to monitor the situation and react in accordance with the development of the situation on the ground, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) announced.

"Fires are active and under control in the municipality of Herceg Novi, in the Baošići - Bijela - Zelenika - Đenovići area, as well as in the Ulcinj area, in the Vladimir - Klezna - Gač - Zoganje - Briska Gora locations. Fires in the village of Dragalj in Kotor, in Ponikvice in Danilovgrad and on Crni Vrh in Kolašin are under control," the statement reads.

In the Bar area, they said, fires in Crmničko Polje and on the railway in Virpazar were extinguished during the day.

"Aircraft operations were necessary today at the fire sites in Herceg Novi, Ulcinj and Bar, where the fires were extinguished by the Ministry of Interior's Air Tractors, and a helicopter of the Army of Montenegro was engaged in extinguishing the fire in the Herceg Novi area, which once again confirmed the importance of aviation capacities in responding to fires in inaccessible terrain," the Ministry of Interior adds.

Members of the protection and rescue services, as well as members of the Army of Montenegro who were engaged in assistance in Ulcinj and Herceg Novi, have returned to their bases.

"We would like to express our gratitude to all members of the local services involved, behind whom there are days of continuous commitment: from Herceg Novi, Ulcinj, Kotor, Tivat, Budva, Bar, Nikšić, Cetinje, Podgorica, Plav, Bijelo Polje, Berane, Plužine, as well as the firefighters from Trebinje, the Luštica Bay enterprise unit, the volunteer fire brigades from the coast and from Podgorica, as well as the 'Clean Mountain' initiative," the statement reads.

The competent services remain on standby throughout the night, with continuous monitoring of all active fires and full readiness for additional engagement of personnel and equipment if the situation requires it, the Ministry of the Interior said.