site.btaFire in Area of Elena Training Ground Put Out

The fire in the area of the Elena Training Ground has been extinguished, Bulgaria's Defence Ministry said in a press release on Friday morning. Service persons remain on site to monitor the situation. Deputy Defence Minister Radostin Iliev visited the area on Friday morning to get first-hand information of the situation and the troops' actions.

On Friday evening, the Ministry reported that a fire had broken out at the Koren Training Ground between the villages of Elena and Koren, Haskovo Region, on Thursday afternoon. The fire was caused by firing practice at ground targets during Exercise Thracian Viper 24. The firing practice was discontinued, the Ministry specified.

A Bulgarian Air Force Cougar helicopter, which doused the fire in the area of the Elena Training Ground until 10:20 a.m. on Friday, has been sent to help extinguish a major fire in the area of the Senokos Village, Simitli Municipality (Southwestern Bulgaria). Service persons of the Blagoevgrad Third Brigade Command are joining the fire fighting effort there.