The heatwave sweeping the country has led to an increase in fires in open areas. The Crisis Management Center (CMC) announced that, as of 1:00 p.m. this Sunday, 13 fires had been reported nationwide. Of these, five remain active, two have been brought under control, and six have been completely extinguished.

Two fires remain active in the Municipality of Gazi Baba. Flames have engulfed a landfill at the Kvani Market, while low vegetation is burning in the village of Straçincë.

According to the CMC, active fires have also been reported in the village of Markova Sushicë in the Municipality of Studeniçan, the village of Jabllanicë in the Municipality of Struga, and the village of Ularcë in the Municipality of Çeshinovë, where low vegetation has also caught fire.

Meanwhile, the fire between the villages of Sllatinë and Greshnicë in the Municipality of Makedonski Brod has been brought under control. Degraded oak forest and low vegetation have burned in that area. The fire in the village of Tatesh i Poshtëm, Struga, is also under control.

Firefighting crews have extinguished six other fires reported in Draçevë, Vizbeg, Opillë, Bërvenicë, Negotinë, and the Burki–Egri i Poshtëm area in Manastir, the CMC said.

Authorities are urging citizens not to light fires in open areas and to report any suspicious fire immediately. Dry weather and high temperatures continue to increase the risk of fires breaking out and spreading.

The CMC recalled that, due to the high risk of forest and open-area fires, the government has declared a nationwide state of crisis for a period of 30 days, beginning on August 1, 2026. The decision is intended to facilitate a rapid and coordinated response, as well as the full mobilization of institutions to protect citizens, property, and natural resources.

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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

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During July, an average of around 15 fires a day were recorded in open areas. According to Stojanche Angellov, director of the Directorate for Protection and Rescue, all the fires were brought under control and successfully extinguished thanks to the timely response of firefighting teams and the assistance of the Directorate for Protection and Rescue’s aircraft. Angellov made the statement to the media today.

He explained that the rainfall recorded recently had helped reduce the number of fires while also preventing them from spreading rapidly.

However, Angellov warned that the rainy period has now ended. High temperatures, low humidity and changes in wind direction favor the immediate outbreak of fires, their spread and difficulties in extinguishing them. “Just one spark is enough,” he said, adding that most fires are caused unintentionally. According to him, citizens usually do not intend to start fires, but even a single moment of carelessness can have serious consequences.

The director urged citizens not to throw cigarette butts in open areas, particularly from moving vehicles.

Angellov also called on citizens to immediately notify the nearest police station or call 112 about any suspicious behavior. He urged them to report people transporting suspicious liquids, torches, large fireworks or other objects, as well as activities that could cause a fire.

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A fire broke out this afternoon in the Dorutovec area near Veles, the Directorate for Protection and Rescue announced. The blaze is located behind the Makpetrol gas station, on the right side of the road before the entrance to the city.

Due to strong winds and the possibility of the flames spreading further, the head of the Main Crisis Management Headquarters, Stojanche Angelov, ordered the deployment of two Air Tractor aircraft owned by the Directorate for Protection and Rescue.

According to the DMSH statement, teams from the Veles Territorial Firefighting Unit (TPPE) are responding at the scene. Six firefighters and two fire engines are involved in the operation.

Efforts to contain and bring the fire under control are continuing.

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Firefighters from Veles, together with residents of the village of Çaloshevë and a crew from the Public Enterprise “Derven” equipped with a fire truck, were engaged in extinguishing the hotspot in the “Dorutovec” locality of the Veles region. Alongside them, the specialized “air tractor” aircraft from the Directorate for Protection and Rescue intervened, managing to mitigate the danger; however, the fire front has advanced towards the Veles – Shtip road segment.

The wind is pushing smoke towards the highway, which has prompted the Main Crisis Management Headquarters to ask the Ministry of Interior for assistance, so that vehicle traffic can be adjusted according to the dynamics of the situation.

Crisis authorities are continuously monitoring developments, coordinating actions with the forces on the ground.

Meanwhile, other fire outbreaks have been reported nationwide. According to data from the Crisis Management Center up to 18:00, 9 fires were registered in open areas, of which 4 remain active and none are under full control, while 5 others have been neutralized.

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Firefighters from Skopje have managed to keep under control the fire that broke out in Gazi Baba Park, the Crisis Management Center (CMC) announced.

CMC director Muhamed Ali reported that the situation at the scene is gradually normalizing, thanks to the swift intervention of the Skopje City Fire Brigade.

Ali emphasized that the CMC reacted without delay, communicating and coordinating actions with the responsible institutions. He was personally at the scene to oversee the operation and monitor its progress. According to him, the fire is now under control, but firefighting forces will remain there until the fire hotspots are completely eliminated.

The CMC director also urged citizens to immediately notify 112 if they encounter flames, smoke, or any other situation that may pose a threat. He appealed to them to exercise increased caution when moving in mountainous and forested areas during these days of high temperatures, avoiding any actions that could spark a fire and following authorities’ instructions.

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According to DMSH, the purpose of the formation was to determine the exact number of volunteer firefighters ready to engage in an organized manner in extinguishing open-space fires during the summer, as part of the Rapid Response Teams of DMSH.

The Director of the Directorate for Protection and Rescue, also commander of the Protection and Rescue Forces, Stojanče Angelov, addressed the participants presenting plans and expectations for the upcoming fire season. The DMSH announcement states that during the activity the new internal structure and hierarchy were also presented, with the aim of strengthening coordination, command and a more efficient involvement of volunteer firefighters in the firefighting system.

After the conclusion of the formation, an outdoor working meeting was organized, where volunteer firefighters shared their experiences, views and proposals for advancing the functioning of the protection and rescue system during the summer season.

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Citizens of the Hekurudha neighborhood themselves raised the alarm, sharing pictures of the forest on social media where a dense plume of smoke was clearly visible.

Forces from the Skopje Fire Brigade immediately arrived on the scene to bring the situation under control.

There is still no official data on the causes that led to the outbreak of the flames.

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Of this total, 1,051 cases involved dry and tall grass, straw, low vegetation, degraded forests, as well as waste or landfills, while 53 of them were classified as forest fires.

January ended with 38 larger-scale fires in open areas, and none was recorded as a forest fire, as all were related to the burning of dry grass, straw, low-stem forest and degraded forest.

In February, an increase was noted, with 46 large-scale fires in open areas, all of which were also linked to the burning of dry grass, straw, low-stem forest and similar vegetation.

The first forest fires of the year were recorded in March. During that month, 294 large-scale fires in open areas were registered, 24 of them forest fires, while the other 270 involved lower vegetation.

In April, a decline followed, with 183 fires recorded in open areas. Of these, 23 were forest fires, one fewer than in the previous month, while the other 160 cases involved smaller vegetation, waste landfills and similar incidents.

The same trend continued in May, when 134 fires in open areas were recorded. Only 2 of them were forest fires, while the other 132 involved dry grass, straw and landfills.

In June, according to the data, a total of 349 larger-scale fires in open areas were recorded. Of these, 4 were forest fires, while the other 345 affected dry grass, straw and low-growth forest.

The CMC also provided data for the first day of July (01.07.2026), when 10 wider-scale fires in open areas were recorded and none fell into the category of forest fires.

“Every fire in the open has its own specifics, impacts, risks and threats, damage and possible consequences for the lives, health and property of citizens. The most specific fires in terms of scope (area and damage) are the fires in the regions of Shtip, Sveti Nikole and Veles,” the Center told us.

On the other hand, reform of the protection and rescue system has long been announced. It envisages, among other things, the merger of the Crisis Management Center with the Directorate for Protection and Rescue, but the process being carried out under the supervision of Deputy Prime Minister Ljupço Dimovski has still not been completed.

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Angelov said it had been agreed that each Volunteer Firefighters Association would determine in advance a specific number of volunteers who, through the Protection and Rescue Directorate’s teams, would be ready to leave immediately for wherever intervention is needed in the event of a fire.

He said the meeting also discussed the method of internal organization, stressing that the structure would be changed entirely. According to him, instead of volunteers being engaged through the Directorate’s local branches, their involvement will be carried out through the institution’s internal organization. For this purpose, several people have been selected who, under a model similar to a military pyramid, will have the role of informing and coordinating the others.

“We reached an agreement that each Volunteer Firefighters Association should declare in advance a specific number of volunteers who, through the Protection and Rescue Directorate’s teams, will be prepared to be sent immediately to the place where they are needed in the event of a fire. We also discussed internal organization. We are completely changing the structure. Instead of volunteers being engaged through the Directorate’s local branches, we will do this through our internal organization. We have selected several people who, according to the principle of a military pyramid, will inform and coordinate the others. Simply put, if we have a major fire in the Shtip region, I will call a specific person we agreed on today and ask him to send a certain number of volunteers to the fire site. Whether it is 10, 20 or 30 people, he will organize them and send them. If it is a bigger fire, I will be able to request support from the other commanders, relatively speaking, of these units in the rapid response teams,” he said.

According to Angelov, such a system will significantly increase efficiency, as it will enable faster, simpler communication and timely internal reporting.

He stressed that his goal as director of the Directorate is for the need to involve the police and the Army in terms of human resources to be reduced to a minimum this summer. According to him, the focus should be on volunteers, most of whom are very well trained and have even greater experience, as all of them have taken part in extinguishing many fires in open areas.

“My goal as director of the Directorate is for the engagement of the police and the Army in the field of human resources to be reduced to a minimum this summer. As I have said publicly so far, we want to rely on volunteers, most of whom have excellent training and even greater experience, because all of them have taken part in extinguishing numerous fires in open areas. The engagement of volunteer firefighters instead of the engagement of the police and the Army. Of course, in the case of major fires that would threaten human lives and property, all state capacities will be at their disposal, including the police, the Army and other institutions. We are witnessing what is happening near Thessaloniki. We should ask ourselves what would happen if such a fire were to develop in our country and what would be needed to extinguish it,” he said.

Angelov also clarified that his previous statement about the daily payments received by volunteers referred to the Directorate’s rapid response teams. He underlined that volunteer firefighters do not receive any compensation.

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