Wildfires Burning In Serbia

BELGRADE - Firefighters continued battling multiple wildfires, across Serbia on August 7th, as temperatures continue to soar, in Europe. In the northeast of the country, firefighters battled a wildfire in a nature

reserve, deploying both ground crews and helicopters. Local authorities said the flames had scorched at least 700 hectares of land in the Deliblato Sands special natural reserve, located roughly 50 kilometres east of Belgrade. Meanwhile, near the town of Kraljevo, several blazes also continued to burn, forcing residents of nearby villages to evacuate.     Local residents said more than 150 acres of pine wood forest had been destroyed in just a couple of days. "The damage is huge. It's a young pine wood forest, these pines were planted during the '80s," one resident told press agency The Associated Press. On August 6th, another major fire swept through the Ibar valley in central Serbia.   Assisted by water-bombing aircraft, firefighters tackled the rough terrain to protect nearby villages. Serbia was not the only country affected.   Days of extreme heat, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celcius, fuelled wildfires across several Balkan countries on August 6th.  Europe's extreme summer weather has also taken a toll on the continent's rivers, with parts of the Danube falling to record-low water levels. While it is not unusual for river levels to decrease during the summer months, this year's drop has been unprecedented.