Protection and Rescue Directorate Mobilizes Resources to Tackle Forest Fires

Weather warnings that temperatures in the country will exceed 40°C have prompted increased mobilization by institutions and firefighting services. As part of the preparations, 40 drivers and operators demonstrated the maneuvering capabilities of specially retrofitted BTR-80 and Pinzgauer vehicles, as well as the capacities of the Protection and Rescue Directorate.

The director of the Protection and Rescue Directorate, Stojanço Angellov, said the Directorate’s firefighting team would consist of between 2,000 and 3,000 people, who would be deployed to assist in areas where the situation is most critical. He also announced that this spring, the Directorate procured 1,000 modern water backpacks equipped with extremely powerful pumps, which have already been distributed to all territorial firefighting units.

The situation is considered alarming, as dense vegetation that is drying out is creating a high risk of fires breaking out. For this reason, Angellov urged citizens to act responsibly and refrain from discarding cigarette butts, even when they believe they have been extinguished.

Angellov called for anyone carrying liquids in bottles, jerrycans, flamethrowers or large fireworks to be reported immediately to the police, the fire service or by calling 112. According to him, people transporting vehicle tires into the mountains or to open areas where there are no vehicles should also be reported.

Volunteer firefighters will also be deployed in operations to extinguish forest fires, in coordination with professional teams, Angellov said. In the past two weeks alone, fires across Europe and the Balkans have destroyed nearly 200,000 hectares of forest and claimed 5 lives. /RTM2