Bulgaria PM Declares Vitosha Wildfire 'Under Control'

The Vitosha Mountain wildfire near Sofia's suburb of Bistritsa has been raging since July 1, 2012. Photo by BGNES

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Deputy Prime Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov and Defense Minister Anyu Angelov  arrived Thursday at the site of fire in Bulgaria's Vitosha Mountain to declare the blaze "under control" in front of cameras and journalists.

The wildfire in Vitosha broke out near the Sofia suburb of Bistritsa on Sunday and its tackling was hindered by the rough terrain.

"I would like to thank everybody who joined the firefighting operation in Vitosha and rescued the forest. I would like to thank firefighters, military officials, forest enterprise workers and volunteers for their efforts," the Prime Minister declared.

Borisov gave a high estimate of the organization of fire-fighting operations, which he said had helped to bring the situation under control.

During the last five days, however, volunteers complained repeatedly that the operations were being held in total disarray, which caused delays and complications.

At present, the Bistrishko Branishre reserve in Vitosha there is no blazing fire.

The fire has been isolated and is not spreading.

Some 500 people are still working on the site, including firefighters, policemen and volunteers.

Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova confirmed in a Thursday interview that the fire in Vitosha had been totally contained and its forward spread had been stopped.

Fandakova cited an announcement by the Mayor of the Bistritsa village, adding that she was staying in constant touch with him.

"We expect that the police and the investigative authorities will determine the cause of the fire. It couldn't have gone without some intervention because a huge territory was up in flames within a very short period," Sofia's Mayor stated.

She also thanked firefighters, military officials and all volunteers.

On Wednesday, the fourth day of the fire, a new territory of 5 decares near the village of Zhelesnitsa caught fire, making the total area hit by the blaze 150 decares.

The wildfire in Vitosha broke out near the Sofia suburb of Bistritsa on Sunday; it has been raging for four days, and its tackling has been hindered by the rough terrain.

The firefighters managed to dig a 6-kilometer trench to contain the fire and keep it away from populated areas.

On Wednesday, a special TP-62 fire-fighting tank was deployed in the operations, alongside three helicopters.

The air around Bistritsa was found to be partially contaminated.

A mobile lab was stationed in the region to keep track of the air pollution, which registered an increased content of non-methane hydrocarbons.

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