Minister of Interior: Situation is calm, Greece wildfire has not advanced to the Bulgarian teriitory

There are no smouldering combustions on Bulgarian territory from the fire in Greece on July 25. For the seventh day the fire continues to burn on Greek territory near the border with Bulgaria.

After the critical 8 hours yesterday, when the flames reached the village of Petrovo in Bulgaria, today the situation is calmer.

Late last night it rained, which helped in extinguishing the fire that crossed into our country through the border strip.

Although there are no new outbreaks on Bulgarian territory so far, firefighters, forestry officials and the military are continuing to crate fire breaks as a preventive measure against the fire on the Greek side.

The fire on the Greek border has been stopped from entering Bulgarian territory

The wildfire on the border with Greece on Bulgarian territory above the villages of Petrovo and Golešovo was contained late last night and there is no danger for the settlements in the area for the time being.

Throughout the night, more than 30 firefighters with three fire engines were on duty at the scene, and the rain that fell helped in extinguishing the fire. However, the danger remains.

Firefighting is also hampered because of the old mines remaining in the area.

Images by BTA

"We have continuous coordination with the Greek authorities through the operational centres both in terms of aerial equipment and what is happening on the land border. No matter how many helicopters you work with you cannot put out the fire. The purpose of these helicopters is to bring down the fire low, not to allow it to develop, the so-called peak combustion," Kalin Stoyanov said, adding that the situation was calm.

Although the fire is far from the border villages, residents are still concerned.

The area will also be surveyed by drone to monitor the smouldering combistions, the Ministry of Interior said.

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The fire on the border with Greece, on Bulgarian territory - above the villages of Petrovo and Goleshovo - has been stopped from spreading. The fire flared up yesterday at 19.00 and reached the border strip. After the quick intervention of firefighters, forestry officials and military personnel, its spread was stopped.

It briefly rained in the area, which helped the fire fighting efforts. There are currently no reports of outbreaks on Bulgarian territory.

There is no danger to people in settlements nearby.

Throughout the night, more than 30 firefighters with three fire engines were on duty on the spot.

Later today, a drone observation was carried out to determine whether there are active fire fronts in the direction of Bulgarian territory.

According to initial information, more outbreaks remain on Greek territory.

The operational headquarters will also meet this morning to decide on further action.

"The situation is calm, there was no optimization of the fire during the night. It is contained, we are controlling it, no escalations are expected. There is still some smoke. We have equipment and quite a lot of resources in terms of manpower," said Plamen Poyukov, head of the State Forest Enterprise in Katuntsi, in "The Day Begins".

According to him, there are minefields and it makes it difficult to control the fire.

"There are land mines, that remained in the area from conflicts which ended in the past. The problem is that anti-personnel mines are bakelite-cased and cannot be detected by metal detectors, demining is not easy due to the highly rugged terrain," added Major Borislav Voinov, commander of the 3rd Mechanized Battalion - Blagoevgrad.