site.btaFirefighters Have Responded to 10% More Fires So Far in 2024

The  Fire Safety and Population Protection Directorate General has responded to over 33,000 fires since the beginning of the year and this is a 10% more than last year, the head of the Directorate General, Chief Commissioner Alexander Dzhartov, said in Pleven Tuesday. The areas affected by forest fires have been increasing over the past four years and this is alarming, he said.

Dzhartov commented that climate change is already a fact and it is evident in the long drought and the increased intensity of fires. "Over 90% of these fires are due to human factors, which means we need to work more with citizens. We plan to train more than 25,000 people and the training is specifically related to wildfire risk prevention," he said.

More than 90,000 people, including over 70,000 children, have received training on flood prevention. Training is planned shortly on forest fire prevention, he said.