The water situation in Gostivar is gradually stabilizing, while the presence of bacteria has been reduced considerably. However, the water remains unfit for consumption, and drinking it or using it to prepare food is still prohibited.

Stojanče Angellov, director of the Directorate for Protection and Rescue, said the Food and Veterinary Agency is the institution responsible for confirming whether the water is safe to drink.

Angellov said the latest analyses show much better results compared with previous tests and that the situation has improved significantly. According to the director of the Directorate for Protection and Rescue, more time is still needed before the water can be declared clean and safe for consumption. The Food and Veterinary Agency will make this decision after determining that the water in Gostivar is safe to drink from both a chemical and bacteriological standpoint.

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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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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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