A water-bombing Mil Mi-8 helicopter owned by the Russian Emergency Ministry keeps taking active part in putting out wildfires in Serbia.

A critical situation happened on 11 August around the town of Bor (suburbs of Slatina). More than 300 hectares on Crni Vrh mountain was consumed with fire. The Russian helicopter was dispatched to the scene and battled the blaze until sunset coordinating its actions with a local ground fire teams. The next day the operation was continued. The helicopter dropped on the wildfires more than 40 tons of water. According to the ground services, some 80% of fires were contained thanks to the Mi-8.

Upon returning to the town of Nis, the captain of the crew Vladimir Seryshev said that the operation was complicated because of mountainous and hard-to-reach terrain.

“We made 4 discharges of water, 3 tons each, reducing the power of the fire and holding it up from spreading to other areas. The next morning we flew there again and this time made 9 targeted discharges. It was hard because of strong gusts of wind, but handled it thanks to cooperation with ground fire units,” he said.

Earlier in the month the Mi-8 dropped on wildfires more than 8 tons of water saving tens of hectares of woods, property, buildings and houses from fires in an area occupied by more than a thousand people.

The Mi-8 left from Moscow to Nis following a request of the Serbian Government and the order of the Russian Government.

The humanitarian operation became necessary as fire hazard in Serbia is growing due to hot weather.

The helicopter with its experienced crew from the Emergency Ministry’s Zhukovsky air rescue center is being stationed in the town of Nis to respond to large fires in Serbia and the Balkans.

The Emergency Ministry’s Mi-8 is a multi-purpose helicopter rigged with a water-bombing device and an extended arm with a hoist to get rescuers and the injured down and up. The crew has carried out hundreds of successful rescue operation in different climatic conditions in Russia and abroad.