site.btaFire Safety Chief Dzhartov Says New Year’s Night Fires Double

There were twice as many incidents and fires on New Year’s night as a year earlier, Directorate General Fire Safety and Civil Protection Director Alexander Dzhartov said on Saturday. He put the number of fires at 196, compared with 94 on December 31, 2024.

Most of the fires caused no material damage and involved containers, waste and chimneys, but people still needed to be careful, Dzhartov added.

“It is hard to say we have learned our lessons. We had six incidents involving fireworks; thank God, none was serious,” Dzhartov said.

Dzhartov said the Directorate General Fire Safety and Civil Protection responded to just over 49,000 incidents in 2025, compared with just over 50,000 in 2024, meaning there was no noticeable difference. He added that the number of fires fell, while the number of rescue activities and operations rose. Dzhartov said the number of incidents they respond to is usually around 50,000 a year.

Dzhartov said 2025 was difficult because the service had to meet requirements linked to having a three-person team. He said a large recruitment competition was held to fill vacancies, and added that all the trainees were now in training, so he expected 273 new firefighters to join.

He added that another competition for 250 people would be launched at the start of this year. Dzhartov said the understaffing level was below 6%, so they had no concerns in that respect.

Asked about the hurricane-level winds that hit Vratsa overnight, Dzhartov said his directorate has received four reports of fallen trees and collapsed structural elements in the town.