Firefighters in Montenegro battled intense flames threatening an animal shelter on Monday (August 11), as a wildfire spread over the hills near Kufin.

Montenegro's firefighters spent hours to fight blaze on the Kufin hill, on Monday, which threatened a local animal shelter, home to 20 abandoned dogs

The fire, near the resorts of Canj and Buljarica, was burning dangerously close to the facility housing abandoned pets, with dogs barking as firefighters sprayed the flames with water and hosed down the shrubland around the facility. After several hours they were able to contain the fire around it and put it out.

“The fire is quite intense and complex, so I can tell you that we are pleased with every house that we have saved, but we are especially pleased with this facility, because we also took care of abandoned pets," chief firefighter for the region, Milan Milac said.

The owner of the centre said the firefighters would withdraw but leave one of their fire-trucks because the increased wind could cause the fire to spread again, despite being localised for now.

In Canj, firefighters deployed water trucks and a Canadair CL-415 firefighting aircraft which arrived from neighboring Croatia to douse flames which affected pine trees, shrubs and low vegetation and came to several hundred meters from the houses.

Montenegrin firefighters also fought a major fire in the area of the village of Rogami, near the capital Podgorica, and deployed at least one plane to help fight the blaze.

Authorities in neighboring Serbia said they were sending a KA-32 firefighting helicopter to help in fighting wildfires.

A series of wildfires have broken out across the Balkans this weekend following weeks of heat and little rain, and are now being fanned by strong winds.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: KUFIN , MONTENEGRO (AUGUST 11, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. FIRE BURNING BEHIND ANIMAL SHELTER HOUSING ABANDONED DOGS

2. VARIOUS OF DOGS JUMPING AND BARKING IN CAGES

3. VARIOUS OF FIREFIGHTERS WITH WATER JET HOSES DISTINGUISHING FIRE BEHIND THE COMPLEX

4. RAINBOW SHOWING IN THE WATER FROM A FIRE HOSE

5. (SOUNDBITE) (Montenegrin) FIRE BRIGADE COMMANDER, MILAN MILAC, SAYING:

“The fire is quite intense and complex, so I can tell you that we are pleased with every house that we have saved, and we are especially pleased with this facility here (turns his head towards the asylum for dogs) because we also took care of abandoned pets. That is why we are especially pleased that we managed to save both the pets and the entire facility that is important to our municipality.”

6. FLAMES BEHIND ANIMAL SHELTER

7. (SOUNDBITE) (Montenegrin) ANIMAL SHELTER OWNER, DR ALEN HADZETLIC, SAYING:

“We already have our employees on duty here 24/7, they will be on standby, and they (the fire brigade) will probably leave a fire-truck here for us, due to the increased wind which can still cause the fire to spread further, even though the fire has essentially been localised.”

8. SMOKE RISING BEHIND ANIMAL SHELTER FACILITY

9. FIREMAN DOUSING THE SHRUBLAND BETWEEN BURNT OUT TREES

10. (SOUNDBITE) (Montenegrin) ANIMAL SHELTER OWNER, DR ALEN HADZETLIC, TALKING ABOUT HOW THE ANIMALS REACTED TO THE FIRE, SAYING:

“It's interesting, but they (the animals) were calm and seemed to know how to behave in such an emergency situation.”

11. FIREFIGHTING VEHICLE PARKED CLOSE TO FIRES

12. VARIOUS OF FIREFIGHTERS EXTINGUISHING FIRES

13. VARIOUS OF SMOKE RISING OVER MOUNTAINS