AS DUBOVO BURNED, NO HELP ARRIVED: Residents Demolished Homes with Tractors, Firefighters Waited for President Who Was Enjoying the Seaside!

Heartbreaking scenes unfolded today in the village of Dubovo, Žitorađa municipality, where residents were left homeless due to a powerful fire that engulfed the area. They feel abandoned, left to battle the blaze on their own, and in a desperate attempt to prevent the fire from spreading, they resorted to literally demolishing houses with excavators and tractors!

Villagers’ Desperate Fight

As reported by Nova.rs, upon entering the village, one immediately sees the ruins of houses engulfed by fire, and hears the cries and laments of horrified residents who, with buckets in hand, are trying to secure water from almost dried-up wells to save their property. As observed, powerless to stop the fire’s spread by other means, some residents were using tractors to tear down burning houses to prevent the blaze from reaching their own. The fires are still raging, and locals don’t know exactly how many houses have been affected, but they say there are dozens.

“We called the firefighters; they said they would only come when they put out the house they’re currently working on, and by then it might be too late for ours,” residents lamented.

A few hundred meters away, a group of residents were trying to prevent the fire from spreading, demolishing burning houses with a tractor to stop the blaze from reaching theirs. They are desperate and bitter, claiming they’ve been left to fend for themselves.

“We saved the houses ourselves, no one came,” an exasperated resident told Nova.rs. “This is misery and squalor. Last night, we saved these houses ourselves; no one came, and as far as I know, we have an army, police, Gendarmerie, this Russian-Serbian center, we helped people in Greece, Albania, Montenegro, and we’re alone. And they know this area struggles with water, that we have no water. We brought some generators, some pumps. There were some firefighters here, to be fair, they helped a little.”

Open Letter Reveals Alleged Discrimination

Residents of Dubovo village in the Toplica region have sent an open letter to the public, pointing out the selective approach of authorities in assisting households affected by the fire. They warn that in parts of the village where the situation was most critical, there were insufficient firefighters or extinguishing equipment, while in front of the house of the President of the Local Community Council, a member of the SNS, a fire truck was continuously stationed despite no fire in her vicinity. They demand an urgent investigation and accountability from the authorities.

The full open letter from the residents of Dubovo village, published by local media, states:

“Yesterday, a large fire broke out in our village of Dubovo, in the municipality of Žitorađa (Toplica district), affecting more than 20 houses and auxiliary buildings in the part of the village locals call Centar or ‘Grobar Mala.’ The fire spread rapidly, and we, the residents, extinguished as much as we could – some with our hands, some with buckets, some with old sprinklers.

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Unfortunately, the response from the competent services was insufficient and selective. In critical moments, the police did not allow vehicles to pass to the endangered village center, thereby preventing residents’ attempts to reach the fire and help. Only two firefighters arrived on the scene with hand sprinklers, without any serious equipment.

At the same time, on the other side of the village – in the part locals call ‘Albania’ – where there was no fire, a fully equipped fire truck was stationed in front of the house of the President of the Local Community Council of Dubovo, Suzana Novković (SNS), who at that moment was not in the village but at the seaside with her family. At a time when more than 20 homes and properties burned down, the fire truck was not engaged in extinguishing the fire, but exclusively on standby to protect the property of the President of the Local Community Council and some residents from that part of the village.

We publicly ask: Why did certain parts of the village receive full protection, while the majority of residents in the village center were allowed to literally watch their homes disappear in flames? Who ordered the police to block access to the endangered part of the village? Why were firefighters deployed selectively – along political lines, kinship, or some other?

Demands for Accountability

We demand:

An urgent investigation and accountability from the authorities in the Sector for Emergency Situations and the local self-government.
Public support and assistance for residents whose homes have burned down, both from the state and society.
An end to the selective treatment of citizens based on political or any other affiliation.

We are all residents of the same village, citizens of the same state. Human life and dignity must not be subject to political or personal selection. We call on all media, journalists, humanitarian organizations, and citizens of Serbia to support us and help the voice of Dubovo village be heard.

Sincerely, residents of Dubovo village – Centar par