In recent days, the view from the Small Family Home in Ledići has been different than usual. Instead of the green slopes of Treskavica, we watched the smoke. And as darkness fell, lines of fire became clearly visible across the mountain.

The wildfires that swept across the wider Trnovo area in early September burned for days at several locations. Wildfires were active in the areas of Ostojići, Presjenica and Hojta, as well as on the slopes of Treskavica. Efforts to fight the fires were made even more difficult by extremely inaccessible terrain and areas suspected of containing landmines, which made it impossible to approach some of the affected areas in the usual way.

For us in Ledići, this was not simply another news story we followed in the media.

We watched the wildfire from our own yard.

Days and nights of fighting the fire

While we watched the fire on the mountain with concern, many people were out in the field.

The firefighting efforts involved members of the Trnovo Volunteer Fire Department, Ilidža Fire Department, Alipašin Most Fire Department and the Professional Fire Brigade of Sarajevo Canton, as well as employees and members of the Fire Protection Service of KJP Sarajevo-šume. Police officers also provided support, while JKP Trnovo teams helped deliver water to the fire sites.

Many of them worked for days with almost no rest, on terrain where sometimes simply moving around posed a danger.

We would also like to express our special gratitude to the people whom citizens rarely see – the dispatchers of the Professional Fire Brigade of Sarajevo Canton.

During these days, we contacted them several times to ask about the situation at the fire sites and whether there was any potential danger to Ledići.

Every single time, they were exceptionally helpful, patient and kind.

Even after days with almost no sleep.

While we called, worried about the fire we could see on the mountain, on the other end of the line were people simultaneously answering numerous calls, following information from the field and coordinating emergency responses. Despite their exhaustion and the enormous pressure they were under, we always received an answer, an explanation and a kind word.

For that, we thank them from the bottom of our hearts.

But our gratitude goes much further.

Thank you to every firefighter who went out to the fire line.

Thank you to the Sarajevo-šume workers who remained on the mountain for days, fighting to protect the forests entrusted to their care.

Thank you to the volunteer firefighters who put their time, strength and personal safety at the service of the community.

Thank you to those who delivered water, to the police officers who were present in the field, to the services that coordinated the response and to everyone who helped in any way.

And thank you to those whose names may never appear in the media.

Behind every news report saying that a wildfire has been “brought under control” are hours of exhausting work by people whom we often notice only when we need them.

This time, we want them to know that we saw them. And that we are grateful.

Why watching Treskavica burn is especially difficult for us

Foundation Second runs the Small Family Home in Ledići together with the Sarajevo Public Institution Home for Children without Parental Care.

The house where children now stay has a special story of its own.

This valuable property was entrusted to the Sarajevo Home for Children without Parental Care for 99 years by the Foundation for the Protection of Bjelašnica, Igman, Treskavica and the Rakitnica Canyon – proBITRA.

And it is difficult not to recognize the symbolism in this.

The proBITRA Foundation was established with a mission to protect Bjelašnica, Igman, Treskavica and the Rakitnica Canyon. Its founder, Dr. Alija Mulaomerović, recognized the value of this area long ago, as well as the need to preserve its natural wealth for generations to come.

Today, in one of the properties preserved by proBITRA, children without parental care spend their days surrounded by nature.

Here, they plant and harvest vegetables. They learn. They play. They hike. They discover the village and the mountains. They learn what it means to care for the place that has been entrusted to us.

That is why watching Treskavica burn carries a very special meaning for us.

A legacy we want to continue

Foundation Second wants to continue working in precisely this direction.

We do not want our work in Ledići to be limited to a single house and occasional stays for children. We want this area to become a place where care for children and other vulnerable groups is connected with care for nature, the development of the local community and the preservation of Bjelašnica, Treskavica and their villages.

We believe that social responsibility and environmental protection do not have to be two separate missions.

Quite the opposite.

A child who plants their first seedling in Ledići today, picks a tomato from the garden, spends a night in a tent or experiences the mountains up close for the first time may one day grow into an adult who understands why this nature must be protected.

And perhaps that is the best way to continue what Dr. Alija Mulaomerović began many years ago – not only by preserving land and buildings, but by raising new generations of people who will understand their value.

When the fire dies down

Every hectare that burns is more than just a number.

There are trees that will take years to grow back. Animals that lose their habitats. Land left unprotected. Springs, forests and entire small ecosystems whose losses and consequences we will not be able to fully assess immediately.

These wildfires have reminded us once again just how magnificent and, at the same time, vulnerable our mountains are.

When the last traces of smoke disappear, our responsibility towards them should not disappear with it.

From Ledići, we will continue to look towards Treskavica.

But we want to do much more than that.

We want to continue the mission of protecting the place entrusted to us, involve children and young people in its preservation, and build a place in Ledići where caring for people and caring for nature are part of the same story.

We pray to Almighty Allah to protect people and animals, and to reward with every good all the firefighters, Sarajevo-šume workers, dispatchers, police officers, municipal workers and everyone else who spent days taking part in the fight against the wildfires.

Thank you for protecting our people, our villages, our forests and our mountains when they needed you most.

May Treskavica be green again.

And may we preserve it that way, together, for those who come after us.