Firefighters battle blazes in Bulgaria’s Rila Mountain, Serbia, Macedonia and Greece
Firefighters in Bulgaria continued their struggle against the blaze in the Beli Bor area of the Rila Mountain on August 27 2012.
The Rila Mountain fire has continued for four days. While reports on August 26 said that the fire had been contained on three sides, but new concerns arose as the week started with strong winds sweeping Bulgaria.
For a second day, firefighters were also at work trying to extinguish a blaze under the ridge of Mount Vrashka near the Serbian border.
In all, there were more than 80 fires in Bulgaria, with the Rila fire the worst, authorities said on August 27.
Elsewhere in South Eastern Europe, the fire on Mount Suvobor in central Serbia was reported to have been localised on August 26 and the government expected that it would be fully under control by August 27.
In Greece, firefighters were battling two new blazes in the Peloponnesian prefecture of Messinia and in Serres, northern Greece, on August 26 as sweltering temperatures and strong winds created tinderbox conditions, leading Greek daily Kathimerini said.
A water-dropping aircraft was dispatched to aid efforts on the ground near the village of Myrsinohori in Messinia, where the first fire broke out.
A second blaze near Nigrita, in Serres, was less accessible to firefighters on the ground and two water-dropping planes were sent to boost their efforts.
Reports from Skopje said that the fire near Vratnica in Macedonia had been moving towards the border with Kosovo on August 26, but because of inaccessible terrain, assistance from the air had been requested to help stem the flames.
At the weekend, forest fires were also reported near the village of Vrajale, Zelenikovo municipality in Ravni Gaber, in Lipkovsko and on land near the villages of Dobroveni, Novaci municipality and thevillageofTsresnevo, Brod municipality and in the village of Gorno Jabolciste.
(Photo: Rodolfo Belloli/sxc.hu)
