Bulgaria's Vitosha Wildfire Partially Tamed

The wildfire that has been raging in the Vitosha Mountain near the Bulgarian capital Sofia has been tamed on the western side of the slope, according to Sofia Fire Department head Ognyan Metodiev.

Some 350 people have been trying to extinguish the fire in the Bistrishko Branishte reserve, many of them volunteers.

"The teams are trying to climb over the ridge, so that they can start working on the other side. The teams have everything they need," according to Toshko Barzilov, head of the National Fire Safety and Protection of Population Service.

Army helicopters have been taking part in extinguishing the fire.

The National Fire Safety and Protection of Population Service say the fire was not the result of a lightning. It is also unlikely to have been caused by tourists, since the reserve is very high up in the mountain and is rarely visited by tourists.

The wildfire in the Bistrishko Branishte locality started at about 2 pm on Sunday; about 10 acres of forest with fir trees were on fire on Sunday afternoon in a largely inaccessible region.

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