Nine Fires Active in Northern Macedonia

Northern Macedonia is facing nine active fires, including new fires in Ohrid and Skopje, Centre for Crisis Management Director Stojance Angelov announced on Saturday.

A major fire has spread to the Ohrid municipality area in the village of Kosel, which risks spreading into a pine forest.

Fires have also erupted in the Skopje area, in the municipality of Zelenikova, and near the village of Ljubanca.

Angelov says the biggest fire is in the mountains of Osogova, on unattainable terrain, which has been active for days, so authorities have decided to use eight Macedonian helicopters, one Serb, two Hungarians, one Slovenian and one check to wipe it out.

Serbia's Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that its helicopter, Airbus H215 Super Puma, with three tonnes of water, with six Helicopter Unit members and an Emergency Sector member, has been sent to northern Macedonia to help extinguish the fires.

Angelov added that fire in the municipality of Makedonski Brodi, in the rural region of Tajevo and Breznica, has been continuing for several days on the field hard to reach, and that a police helicopter has been sent there on Saturday, as well as a team from Hungary with 46 firefighters and special vehicles.

The fire in Plasnica is being controlled and operated for its extinction, as well as forest fires in Pethcheva.

Angelov said that a record number of fires have been registered in northern Macedonia this summer, and that during July there have been 620 fires in nature and forests, of which 611 have died out.

The “Record was 29 July, when we had 66 active fires on a day of”, Angelov said. / REL