site.btaKresna Gorge Fire: An Environmental Catastrophe

Blagoevgrad, Southwestern Bulgaria, August 27 (BTA) - It will take between 13 million and 15 million leva to finance the planting of new trees and at least 50 years to restore the forests which have been destroyed in the large fire in the Kresna Gorge since Thursday, Damyan Damyanov, director of the state-owned forest management company for Southwestern Bulgaria, said on Sunday. Damyanov said: "No one has been killed or injured in the fire, which is the most important thing, but it is a real environmental catastrophe."

Simply cleaning up the ashes in the scorched area will take at least a year, the expert went on to predict. The fire around the villages of Senokos, Mechkoul, Oshtava and Stara Kresna "has inflicted a huge wound on Bulgaria's nature," he concluded.

He expressed hope that the blaze will be completely extinguished later on Sunday, the fourth day since the firefighting effort began. There is no more burning or smouldering in over 90 per cent of the affected areas. The only problematic spot is above the Kresna Gorge section of the main road from Sofia to the Greek border (E-79).

More than 400 people continued to fight the fire on Sunday. These included professional firefighters, forestry workers, military, volunteers, and employees protecting the Pirin and Rila national parks. There was a critical moment on the night between Saturday and Sunday after the wind suddenly turned the flames towards a large group of firefighters and police officers. The officers were evacuated, the blaze was soon contained and the situation was normalized.