In the last 24 hours, 146 fires have been extinguished in the country, according to data from the General Directorate "Fire Safety and Population Protection".
However, statistics show that incidents this year are about 30% fewer. By the end of the year, 285 fire trucks and 3,000 new special sets of protective clothing are expected to be delivered to help firefighters.
"At the moment, the fire front in the Sliven region is largely under control, but teams continue to work. There are two helicopters on the ground, almost 2,000 acres are burning. There is no danger to residents. We are focused on extinguishing the fire. It is close to the road, it may have started from there," said the director of the General Directorate for Fire Safety and Population Protection, Chief Commissioner Alexander Dzhartov, in "Denyat ON AIR".
According to him, the fire in the Karlovo region was caused by the brakes of a passing train.
"We have 11 teams, forest officials and equipment. The work will continue at night. The teams are trying to secure the area around the settlements. About 100-150 fires occur every day. We have higher temperatures than in July, when we had rain. The vegetation is dry and there is more wind. We should not be calm, the fire season has not passed", he added for Bulgaria ON AIR.
Forest fires prevail
Fires in forest areas or people's yards predominate, our main task is not to cause them, the director of the GDPBZN emphasized.
"Over 90% of fires have occurred as a result of human activity, carelessness and underestimation of the situation. In most cases, we think that it will not happen to us, but it does happen. Macedonia, Serbia, Albania, Greece also have problems with fires. Bulgaria is somewhat less affected, but it is not a reason to be calm. Not all of the false alarms are intentional. Sometimes people cannot assess the situation".
More and more aircraft to help firefighters
Every year there is more and more aircraft - this year we rely on up to 6 Air Force helicopters, we also rely on "Spartan", he informed.
According to him, volunteering should be encouraged, because disasters are becoming more and more dangerous.
"In most cases, the water from the helicopters remains on the tops of the trees and does not reach the bottom. The entire terrain must be treated. Currently, in modern countries there is no fire department without paramedics. We have such only in the capital. This is an extremely important goal. The fire service is expensive and we cannot have it in every settlement. The BG-ALERT system works and is gradually becoming an established tool," said Chief Commissioner Dzhartov.