It has been a sad summer we have been having. With temperatures soaring to over 40°C, not forgetting human carelessness and irresponsibility, hundreds of wildfires have been raging across the country. For a second week firefighters, volunteers and the army have been battling to extinguish the flames. But there are others who – intentionally or not – have been starting the fires.

• More than 200 fires have been extinguished in the past 24 hours

At the beginning of last week, a massive wildfire broke out near several villages in Kostinbrod municipality in Western Bulgaria. Several houses, fields and forestland all burnt down. Then more fires broke out – in the region of Trun, again in Western Bulgaria, and the fire reduced 40 houses to ashes and crossed over the border into Serbia. A fire in Dabova Mahala village near Montana, Northwestern Bulgaria, destroyed 19 houses, a dairy farm and an old abandoned schoolhouse. 

At one of the most critical points – near the village of Ilindentsi in Mount Pirin in Southwestern Bulgaria, because of the strong wind, the firefighter crews had to be temporarily called back, and Chief Commissioner Alexander Dzhartov, head of the General Directorate for Fire Safety and Protection of the Population stated that it was a fire that could not be brought under control. The fire in Pirin spread to over 600 hectares of woodland, the smoke and soot spreading to the other side of the mountain and causing panic among people in Bansko, Razlog, Belitsa and Blagoevgrad.

Because of the wildfire raging in the region of Yambol in Eastern Bulgaria, the power supply to two pumping stations had to be cut off and 10 villages had their water supply cut off. A fire broke out right next to the capital city Sofia as well – between the town of Bankya and the Sofia residential area Filipovtsi; because of another fire public transport had to be suspended between the residential areas Moderno Predgradie and Obelya, again in Sofia.

While all of this is going on, a 33-year old man with a criminal record is seen on CCTV to be deliberately setting a majorg fire between two neighbourhoods in Veliko Tarnovo in Northern Bulgaria. Thanks to the footage the arsonist has been detained. The video, aired by TV stations in their news coverage and in social media angered thousands, and with good reason.

Otherwise help has come. Bulgaria activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and 4 helicopters and 2 aircraft have arrived to help. On Sunday, neighbouring Turkiye sent crews from the provinces of Edirne and Kirklareli to help the Bulgarian firefighters in their efforts to extinguish the wildfire near Lesovo village in Southeastern Bulgaria on the Bulgarian-Turkish border which spread to hundreds of hectares of land.

From Moldova, where he is paying an official visit, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov called on people in Bulgaria to approach any fire hazard activities with caution, especially around their homes, and not to throw unextinguished cigarette butts to the ground. “We have been repeating these measures for years, yet 95% of the fires are still caused by human carelessness,” Rosen Zhelyazkov said.

President Rumen Radev described the lack of capabilities for aerial firefighting as “negligence and ducking (responsibility)”. From Plovdiv airport where on Sunday night he welcomed the first helicopter crew under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism coming from Hungary, Rumen Radev said that a year ago parliament had approved a decision obligating the Council of Ministers to buy specialized aerial firefighting equipment. “Since then all we have seen is negligence and ducking (responsibility – editorial note) in the hope that this too shall pass,” the Bulgarian president stated. It is critically important that we have timely information about the fires as they break out, said Rumen Radev and went on to thank Turkiye and the EU, as well as all firefighters, the army and the volunteers who are still fighting the wildfires on the ground.

“A sad fiery summer for Bulgaria,” Vladina Cekova - one of the first professional fashion model, TV screenwriter, traveler and civic activist posted on Facebook. “People’s carelessness is a terrible thing. The negligence and indifference are just disgusting,” writes Vladina. “I cannot believe there are people who would set a fire on purpose. I cannot believe such callousness can exist. As I am writing my helplessness makes me so angry. We know it is summer, we know summers are hot, that is normal, but we, as humans, could do something to help too. Our heartfelt thanks to all indefatigable firefighters, military personnel, and all courageous volunteers who are there to fight the fires day and night! It takes years for a forest to grow. Years!”

A sense of impunity is what is burning down Bulgaria, writes Nikola Rahnev, founder of the biggest volunteer initiative in Bulgaria Gorata.bg. 

“I am so angry that so many Bulgarian forests, fields, so much farmland, people’s homes, animals’ habitats are going up in flames! One more year Bulgaria is burning… It is being burnt by lack of prevention and lack of responsibility by the authorities, because the best kind of wildfire is the one that never happens. Because protective action can be taken - mineralized strips in forests, open water, early warning systems, rapid fire extinguishing.”

Compiled by Krasimir Martinov
Translated and posted by Milena Daynova
Photos: Nikola Rahnev, BTA, BGNES