Large fire in Kçiq, Mitrovica - three houses burn, residents evacuated

Three houses, agricultural land and forests in the village of Kçiq i Madh have been engulfed by flames that started on Sunday and have since spread to Kçiq i Vogël, causing major material damage. Firefighters and the Police were immediately involved in extinguishing the fire. Members of the KSF and KFOR also came to their aid on Monday morning. Village representatives raise suspicions of deliberate arson

Two villages in the Municipality of Mitrovica have suffered significant material damage from the devastating fires that broke out on Sunday and continued to spread on Monday, despite the efforts of several teams to extinguish them.

The fire that has engulfed large areas in Kçiq i Madh and Kçiq i Vogël has engulfed fields, forests and three inhabited houses. Some of the residents of the area have been forced to flee their homes.

The fire on Sunday began its "march" on the outskirts of the village of Kçiq i Madh and quickly spread towards Kçiq i Vogël. Local firefighters have made great efforts to bring the situation under control, but the rapid spread of the fire has made it impossible to immediately extinguish the flames.

KFOR and the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) have been engaged since Monday morning to help manage the situation.

Fatmir Salihu, the mayor of the village of Kçiq, expressed the great concern of the residents, who have been forced to evacuate children and women from their homes due to the proximity of the flames.

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"They were very scared, some residents even evacuated their children and documents. I am emotional, I feel sorry for them, but that was our opportunity as villagers to help them. The fire was very large, about 5 kilometers in length. When the residents saw it, they were afraid and took their children and livestock away. The women left, while we men stayed to help as much as we could," said Salihu.

Salihu complained about the lack of firefighting equipment, saying that the arson was intentional.

"There was deliberate arson..., caused by the human factor. Even though we had help from the municipality and firefighters, it was an emergency. To stop it earlier, other means would have been needed, not just the few that the Mitrovica or regional fire department has," he said.

To take a closer look at the situation, the mayor of the municipality, Bedri Hamza, also went to the scene on Monday. 

He said that KFOR stopped to help them on Monday morning and now the situation is under control.

"It's a very large area involved. The risks are evident, houses have burned, fortunately no residents have been injured by the fire. We have it under control for the moment, but there are still active fires. We are fully committed to helping the residents and keeping the situation under control," said Hamza.

Genc Metaj, from the Emergency Management Agency, announced that 38 fires were reported throughout Kosovo on Monday, of which 22 are still active.

"There are fires all over Kosovo, as presented in the report. We have received assistance from KFOR in Kçiq, but very little. The situation at the country level is currently very serious," said Metaj.

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In addition to Mitrovica, other municipalities such as Ferizaj, Skenderaj, Vushtrri and Lipjan have also reported fires that have burned entire hectares of forests and agricultural land.

Authorities are appealing for maximum caution from citizens, while investigations into the possible causes of the arson are ongoing.