Bulgaria reacted swiftly to a forest fire near the town of Kriva Palanka, North Macedonia, which is located near the Bulgarian-North Macedonian border. The fire, which broke out on Wednesday afternoon, spread rapidly and threatened the town itself, announced the press center of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The mayor of Kyustendil, Engineer Ognyan Atanasov, went to Kriva Palanka following a request from his counterpart and took part in coordinating the efforts on site. A Bulgarian team with one fire truck from Kyustendil actively participated in containing the flames, which were fueled by the wind at three hotspots near the villages of Lozanovo and Gradets. Later, a firefighting team from Sofia also joined the effort.

The mayor of Kriva Palanka, Sashko Mitovski, expressed deep gratitude to the Bulgarian institutions and teams for their swift and timely assistance. The Bulgarian Embassy in Skopje also sent a vehicle with mineral water, accompanied by the deputy head of the diplomatic mission.

Regarding the operation, Bulgaria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Georg Georgiev wrote on Facebook that “politics should not take precedence over humanity”. ''Following an order from Prime Minister Zhelyazkov, firefighting teams and equipment were dispatched to the scene to help contain the natural calamity'', Minister Georgiev wrote further.

Published and translated by Kostadin Atanasov

Photo: BTA-archive