site.btaForest Fires Rage Across Southern Bulgaria

A partial state of disaster has been declared in the municipalities of Hisarya, Kaloyanovo, Ivaylovgrad and Topolovgrad, all of them in southern Bulgaria, over forest fires. The fires have affected the villages of Pesnopoy, Mihiltsi, Sarnegor, Otets Paisievo, Gornoseltsi, Srem and Studena.

Bulgaria has been affected by a heat wave that has not eased for a week now and the forecast is for more scorching temperatures.

Declaring a partial state of emergency will allow the mayors to take swift measures to fight the fires, jointly with the regional administration, the Regional Directorates of the Interior, the Directorate of Fire Safety and Civil Protection and the emergency medical services.

The teams of the Unified Rescue System are working round-the-clock to completely extinguish the fires. The state of disaster will last for a period of seven days.

South Central Bulgaria

Servicemen and two helicopters from the Krumovo Air Base are participating in the efforts to extinguish the large fire near the villages of Pesnopoy and Mihiltsi in the Sredna Gora mountain range on Plovdiv Region territory. Combating the fire are 24 fire trucks, more than 100 volunteers, locals and workers from the local administration. Two helicopters, a Mi-17 and a Cougar, were also dispatched to the villages. A military unit from the 61st Stryama Mechanized Brigade joined the efforts.

Interior Ministry Secretary General Dimitar Kangaldzhiev, who visited the village of Mihiltsi, said that the fires in the Plovdiv Region are under control. There is no danger to the life, health and property of those living near the fire, he said. The fire is still burning in a wooded area between the municipalities of Kaloyanovo and Hisarya, as it is a high-altitude fire it is inaccessible to firefighters currently, he added.

According to the Director of the General Directorate of Fire Safety and Population Protection, Chief Commissioner Alexander Dzhartov, the biggest challenge is the wind. When there is such a strong wind, the fire immediately rises up and this prevents bringing in teams because it becomes too risky, Dzhartov added.

Southeast Bulgaria

Around 2:40 p.m. on Friday, two large fires occurred in Gornoseltsi village, Ivaylovgrad Municipality, and in the village of Srem, Topolovgrad Municipality, and went out of control, the Haskovo District Administration reported. One of the fires burned down more than 10 houses in the village of Gornoseltsi, then moving in the direction of the neighbouring village of Pokrovan, Ivaylovgrad Mayor Diana Ovcharova told BTA.

The fires can harm people's health and cause significant damage to agricultural crops, residential and farm buildings.

Southwest Bulgaria

A fire that broke out on the territory of North Macedonia has affected an area of about 1 hectare on Bulgarian territory, said the Regional Directorate of the Interior Ministry in Blagoevgrad on Friday. The fire on the Bulgarian side of the border has been localised and extinguished, with no injuries suffered.

Firefighters from the Bulgarian side remain in constant contact with their colleagues from North Macedonia, said Commissioner Valentin Vasilev, Director of the Fire Safety and Population Protection Regional Directorate.