Huge Fire in SW Bulgaria Heads for Transit Gas Pipeline

A huge fire, which started from the southwestern village of Balanovo, has reached the village of Dzherman and is some 50 meters away from a transit gas pipeline connecting Bulgaria to Greece. Photo by BGNES

A huge fire, which started from the southwestern village of Balanovo, has reached the village of Dzherman and is some 50 meters away from a transit gas pipeline connecting Bulgaria to Greece.

The tip-off for the fire was given at around 4 p.m. on Wednesday, according to reports of the BGNES news agency.

Six teams of firefighters from the towns of Bobovdol, Rila, Dupnitsa, Kyustendil are fighting the flames.

The fire had spread beyond the Gramadeto area between Balanovo and the Dzherman River by 6.30 p.m.

In about 30 minutes, the flames spread across the grass and low-lying vegetation, assisted by the strong winds.

The fire is now scores of meters away from a transit gas pipeline running to the right of the Dzherman River.

A road connecting the Roma neighborhood of the nearby town of Dupnitsa to the village of Usoika is an obstacle to the spread of fire.

The fire is 50 m away from the gas pipeline and 50 meters away from the road.

The flames have spread on a territory of over 2000 decares.

The smoke plume is visible from the city of Blagoevgrad.

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