site.btaStrong Winds Halt Firefighting Efforts near Ilindentsi

All teams fighting the fire near the village of Ilindentsi (Southwest Bulgaria) have been withdrawn due to strong winds to prevent casualties, Chief Commissioner Alexander Dzhartov, Head of the Fire Safety and Population Protection Directorate General, said on Sunday. "There is a very large fire that we cannot control or work on at all. There are hurricane winds at the moment, which means that everyone working near the fire front is in danger. The wind is constantly changing direction. We expect it to start dying down later," he added.

Several hundred hectares are burning, Dzhartov said.

"Our task is to protect populated areas so that if the fire happens to spread towards them, we can defend them. We hope that the wind will die down tomorrow so that the aircraft, which will arrive in Bulgaria by the end of the evening, can begin to operate," he said. 

Two more helicopters and two planes from Sweden are expected to arrive. "There are storms in some places, which is making it hard for them to take off, Dzhartov said. "Right now, because of the complicated situation, there no helicopters can help control the fire."