site.btaWildfire Approaches Yerusalimovo despite Aerial Response

A wildfire continued to burn in the Harmanli area on Wednesday, reaching a new front within the territory of Lyubimets Municipality towards the village of Yerusalimovo, despite the work of two firefighting aircraft from Sweden and a military Cougar helicopter, Regional Governor Stefka Zdravkova told BTA’s Nikolay Grudev.

Lyubimets Mayor Anastas Anastasov declared a partial state of emergency for Yerusalimovo.

The fire closed the Maritsa Motorway between the Harmanli and Lyubimets interchanges. Traffic has been very heavy, but the organization for a detour along the old road between Harmanli and Lyubimets is excellent, Zdravkova said.

Responding to a question by BTA, Zdravkova said there is no danger to the village of Yerusalimovo, and for now it is not necessary to activate the BG-Alert system for a possible evacuation.

The blaze in the lands of the Harmanli villages of Dositeevo, Izvorovo, and Kolarovo on the western slopes of the Sakar mountain broke out in the protected Radinchevo area on Monday afternoon.

By Tuesday afternoon, the affected area had reached about 2,000 hectares. By Wednesday, the burned area, comprising forest land, dry grass, and shrubs, had grown to some 3,000 hectares, Zdravkova added.