site.btaUPDATED Fight against Three Big Fires in Blagoevgrad District Continues

The fight against the three big wildfires raging on the territory of Blagoevgrad district continues on Friday, district governor Georgi Dinev told BTA. 

The fire, which broke Thursday afternoon near the village of Senokos near Simitli and turned into a forest fire, is still active. Because of the low temperatures and low atmospheric pressure during the night, this morning the fire is low, which allows partly its extinguishing with live force, Dinev said. He added that the terrain is extremely rugged and does not allow the inclusion of crawler equipment to make clearings.

At the moment, the fire is going towards the mountain ridge, not towards the neighbourhoods and settlements in the area. Fighting it on Friday will be done entirely by air with the help of two Swedish planes, as there is no possibility to bring in other equipment, the Blagoevgrad district governor said. An option is being discussed to include a helicopter in the effort. The priority at the moment is to prevent the fire from crossing the ridge and engulfing the other side of Pirin Mountain, Dinev added.

Mayor of Simitli Apostol Apostolov declared a state of disaster on the territory of the municipality, the municipal press centre reported.

On Friday morning the situation with the fire in the Malesheva Mountain, which has been raging since Tuesday, was brought under control. The problem is that with the rise in daytime temperatures and sunshine, the fire may reignite in the afternoon, said Georgi Dinev.

The fire at the Bulgarian-Greek border in the Slavyanka Mountain is also being extinguished. It has advanced 50 to 200 metres into Bulgarian territory, the Blagoevgrad regional governor said. Clearings are being made to limit its spread, with fire brigade teams and forestry officials on the ground. The good thing there is that the fire is far from the settlements, which means there is no danger for their inhabitants, the governor added. He pointed out that the moment the situation with the fire near Senokos is brought under control, the aerial equipment will be diverted to other fires in the district as a priority.