Wildfires are devastating southern Bosnia

JABLANICA, Bosnia-Herzegovina – Villagers and firefighters throughout southern Bosnia are wrestling with devastating wildfires in a region that has seen record high temperatures and no rain for over two months.

Bosnian military helicopters as well as one sent from Russia were fighting one blaze after another on Tuesday.

Pero Pavlovic, spokesman for the regional Civil Protection Agency, said the most critical situation was around the village of Glogosnica, near the town of Jablanica, where two blazes were creeping down the steep and inaccessible mountain slopes toward the village.

Elsewhere, volunteers and firefighters are battling wildfires around the Bosnian towns of Trebinje, Gacko, Nevesinje and Mostar.