Wildfires are raging on two of Bulgaria’s borders

Wildfires are raging on two of Bulgaria’s borders. In North Macedonia, a major fire broke out near the town of Pehchevo near the border with Bulgaria. At the moment there is no danger of the fire entering our country. The fire on the Bulgarian-Greek border in the Slavyanka mountains continues to burn for the fourth week.

Firefighters started creating fire breaks and lines on the Bulgarian territory due to the large fire in North Macedonia.

The big fire near the Macedonian town of Pehchevo flared up again yesterday afternoon. At this stage, however, there is no danger of the fire entering our country as the fire is 3 km away from our border. As a precautionary measure, fire breaks and lines have been made, and even if the fire crosses into Bulgaria, the forestry and fire brigade assure that due to the low vegetation the fire can be quickly contained. Also, the situation will not be left unattended and will be responded to as needed. In the Republic of North Macedonia, a helicopter extinguished the fire yesterday and it is expected to be extinguish it today. However, a thick cloud of smoke was visible yesterday from Blagoevgrad and villages in the municipality of Simitli, it startled people.

The fire in the Slavyanka mountain has moved to a new place.

"Colleagues from the State Forest Service-Simitli are laying mineralized strips in the whole area, because in the last one month there have been two fires in this area. The vegetation around 1 km is grass, so when we make these strips, we will be able to stop the fire there," said Kalin Zashev - director of the State Forestry-Blagoevgrad.

In the Slavyanka mountain the fire from Greece has crossed into a new territory in Bulgaria, but all those working on the ground have already foreseen this and have made fire breaks, so for the time being there is no danger. It is worrying, however, that because of the other large fires in Greece in Slavyanka Mountain, the fire is not being put out either by people on the ground or by air from the Greek side. This means that the fire will continue to burn in the coming days.

Because of the dry and hot weather, any spark can cause a fire to start. So be extremely careful and do not light a fire outdoors.