site.btaUPDATED Wildfire in Greece Reaches Border with Bulgaria

The fire raging in Slavyanka Mountain is next to the border furrow, engineer Plamen Poyukov, head of the Katuntsi State Forestry Enterprise, said on Wednesday. The situation has become critical due to the bad weather conditions in Greece, as storms forced the firefighters there to stop their efforts earlier Wednesday, which enabled the fire to enter Bulgaria. The conditions in the plain below Slavyanka do not allow the fire to be extinguished by air, Poyukov added.

Firefighters, forestry officials and servicepersons are fighting the fire on the scene.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Defence Ministry said that Bulgarian servicepersons from the Third Brigade Command remain on standby to help fight a Greece forest fire burning close to the border with Bulgaria, in case it spreads into Bulgarian territory. A new group of 24 servicepersons with seven units of specialized equipment from the Third Mechanized Brigade of Blagoevgrad, is near the border between the villages of Petrovo and Goleshovo. 

According to the Interior Ministry, there is no risk of the fire spreading from Greece into Bulgaria. On the Bulgarian side, teams and equipment have been deployed in order to react quickly if needed. Greece continues to fight the flames from the air.

Firefighters, foresters and servicemen are cleaning vegetation on a strip on the Bulgarian side to prevent the fire from jumping over, Poyukov told BTA.

The fire on the border with Greece has been localized on the Bulgarian side, Blagoevgrad Deputy Regional Governor Hristo Angelov told BTA on Wednesday evening. There is no fire on Bulgarian territory, he added and specified that firefighting teams will remain at the border to monitor the situation over the night.