Fires Rage for Second Week in Mountains on Greece-Bulgaria Border

Greek firefighters are trying to limit the fire to the ridge of Mount Slavianka, according to the Civil Protection. For their part, the Greek authorities report that the fire front has expanded along the ridge of Mount Slavianka, as the fire has again moved into Bulgaria. The Greek side is making every effort, acting in coordination with the Bulgarian authorities, firefighters report. There is no chance that the fire will be extinguished today, BNR writes.

A new centre of a large fire in the Greek part of the Slavianka Mountains has crossed the border, and the fire perimeter has covered 120 hectares of Bulgarian territory.  Bulldozers are currently digging wide protective ditches to limit the spread of the fire, explained Plamen Poyukov, director of forestry in the village of Katuntsi.

"The fire is low-level in the east and north, but it has covered a very large part of the Alibotush biosphere reserve. Firefighters, forestry officials and military personnel will be heading to the fire area today with all-terrain fire trucks in an attempt to create water strips to limit the fire's further spread," Poyukov said.

He added that there is no threat to populated areas, and there is no need for civilian volunteers.

Spanish planes, which arrived yesterday and are working together with Bulgarian helicopters, have already joined the firefighting effort.

Typically, all southern European countries suffer from forest fires during the hot months. 

Hundreds of forest fires have already broken out in Greece since the start of the season. One of them caused the closure of a major border crossing between Greece and North Macedonia.

The EU Civil Protection Mechanism was activated last week to coordinate efforts to combat the wildfires that have swept across southeastern Europe.