site.btaUPDATED Partial State of Disaster over Forest Fires Declared in Four Municipalities in S 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.

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

The fires have affected the villages of Pesnopoy, Mihiltsi, Sarnegor, Otets Paisievo, Gornoseltsi, Srem and Studena.

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 fire. The state of disaster will last for a period of seven days.

The fire over Mihiltsi was localized but then flared up again and firefighters are heading to the spot. The fire threatens to reach an area with holiday homes near Miromir and Hisarya, Hissarya Mayor Iva Valcheva told BTA. About 200 ha are affected by the fire in the region, Valcheva added. Helicopters are expected to be involved in the firefighting prosses again. 

Combating the fire are 24 fire trucks, more than 100 volunteers, locals and workers from the local administration. 

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 fire burned down more than 10 houses in the village of Gornoseltsi and is now moving in the direction of the neighbouring village of Pokrovan, Ivaylovgrad Mayor Diana Ovcharova told BTA. “The situation is very complicated, the village is surrounded by pine forest”, she added. Air help has already been requested.

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

More than 15 teams of firefighters are participating in the efforts to extinguish the Gornoseltsi fire.