site.btaMilitary Personnel Assists with Efforts to Extinguish Fires

For the ninth day in a row, military personnel and equipment participated in extinguishing fires in the Yambol and Balkan regions, the Ministry of Defence said. Military personnel and helicopters from the 24th Air Base - Krumovo Saturday  performed tasks to help the population by participating in extinguishing fires.
Until Friday, the two helicopters were in the air for nearly 120 hours, performed 838 approaches with more than 1,500 tonnes of water. For the fourth day in a row, the two helicopters are in the area of ​​the village of Voden. The participation of the Air Force in fighting this fire began on July 17.

On Saturday, a group of 54 servicemen with 7 units of equipment from the Headquarters Battalion, the 1st Mechanized Battalion and the anti-aircraft missile division of the 61st Stryamska Mechanized Brigade, under the leadership of the Deputy Commander for Logistics of the Mechanized Battalion, Major Danail Ivanov, participated in extinguishing the fire in the area of ​​Beklemeto in the Balkan.

Also on Saturday, 41 servicemen with 6 units of equipment from the 42nd Mechanized Battalion and 20th Self-Propelled Artillery Division of the 2nd Tundzhan Mechanized Brigade and 23 servicemen with 5 units of equipment from the Specialist Training Centre were again on the ground to support operations of the firefighters from the Fire Safety and Protection of the Population service and the volunteers in controlling the fire in the area of ​​the village of Voden, Yambol region.

On Saturday, their efforts were aimed at extinguishing the fire that spread in the lands of Strandzha and Krainovo villages. Their actions were led by the commander of the 42nd mechanized battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Ivanov.

Personnel and equipment from the Bezmer Air Base , in addition to the implementation of the tasks of the Thracian Viper 2024 exercise, provided the machines involved in extinguishing the fires in Strandzha mountain.

Earlier on Saturday, the Ministry of Environment and Water said that that the fire in the Central Balkan had been extinguished.