Evacuation of villages near the border with North Macedonia has begun

The BG-ALERT system has issued an evacuation warning for the residents of five villages in the municipality of Strumyani due to the large fire that broke out in the area of the Maleshevska Mountain near the border with North Macedonia. The fire continues to spread. Helicopters, firefighters and volunteers are involved in extinguishing it, reported BNR’s correspondent in Blagoevgrad Keti Trencheva.

The fire front is extremely wide and the wind is further aggravating the situation. Dozens of fire trucks from Blagoevgrad, Sofia, Sandanski, Petrich and Strumyani are on-site. Two French airplanes also joined the firefighting efforts after being called for help due to the fire in Slavyanka Mountain. They are refilling water from the Dospat dam, and for this reason, boating and other watercraft activities in the reservoir are prohibited today and tomorrow. The flames have already engulfed several thousand decares of forest.