2024-07-28 19:22:31
Between 70 and 100 decares of the Bulgarian territory is currently covered by the fire burning on the Bulgarian-Greek border, the director of the State Forestry (DGS) – Katuntsi engineer Plamen Poyukov told BTA. He added that the fire was grassroots, but the area where it developed was heavily cut and very inaccessible.
Our colleagues leave in the morning at 05:00, travel about an hour and a half by car, and then walk about an hour and a half to reach the fire site. It is rocky, very inaccessible and crossed, said engineer Plamen Poyukov. From our side, these are declared reserves, which means that there is no logging and there is a lot of dead wood that constantly smolders and is a prerequisite for fire. Even if a person thinks they have extinguished it, it smolders and the moment the temperatures rise, it ignites again, he said.
At the moment, the fire is active, the Bulgarian and Greek authorities continue to put it out and try to control it, but the perimeter is very large and the temperatures are very high, which makes the work difficult, said engineer Poyukov.
Today, they continue to put out the fire on the spot with aircraft. They also released people from the Greek side, said the director of forestry. So far, the Greeks have fought the fire only with aircraft, but today they also let people who passed through our territory to enter, since the front of the fire is almost on the border strip, and there are also minefields in the area, he explained he too.
Eng. Poyukov also said that these ignitions that occur with the dead wood will be a potential risk for a very long time, or at least until heavy rain falls to extinguish everything.
Since yesterday, the situation with the fire on the Bulgarian-Greek border has been quite serious, said earlier today the Acting Minister of the Interior, Kalin Stoyanov.
A crew from the Air Force with a Mi-17 helicopter from the 24th aviation base – Krumovo is helping to put out the fire in the area of the Bulgarian-Greek border.