site.btaUPDATED Partial State of Emergency Declared over Fire Near Stara Zagora

A partial state of emergency has been declared in connection with the fire in the area of Sedmi Kilometar near Stara Zagora, which broke out around 3 p.m. on Sunday, Mayor Zhivko Todorov told reporters later in the day.

The fire is in an area with over 300 vacation homes, of which between 15 and 20 have been destroyed by the fire. The quick intervention of police and firefighting teams led to the timely evacuation of the residents, and no one was injured. 

Todorov assured that there was no danger to the people, help was requested from the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Interior, as well as helicopters to cover the territory to prevent the fire from starting again. There will be teams on duty throughout the night. Todorov pointed out that an inspection of all the damage is to be carried out and more detailed information is to be made public. "I think that the people here deserve an award from the Minister of the Interior, because if the reaction had not been so quick, there could have been casualties and much greater material damage, which in this case is the minimum for the fire that occurred," the Mayor said. According to him, any activity could have caused of the fire; it will be established by the investigating authorities.

A helicopter has already joined the fight against the fire, a BTA reporter saw. A second helicopter is expected to join the efforts.

The head of the Regional Fire Safety and Civil Protection Directorate, Chief Commissioner Stoyan Kolev, told reporters that the fire has been contained but has not yet been localized. He described the fire as difficult. Fourteen firefighting teams were involved, all structures from the district were involved as a matter of urgency, teams from Plovdiv and Sliven also arrived. Currently, two teams from Plovdiv are securing the town of Stara Zagora for possible other accidents due to lack of teams and equipment. "In record time, we have activated all institutions, including the General Directorate for Fire Safety and Civil Protection for assistance with helicopters and the ground extinguishing module. We are not fighting for records, but the most important thing is that there are no reports of injured people," he said, adding that there are literally people being airlifted out of dangerous places. "After securing the dangerous two fronts with helicopters from Krumovo Air Base, we will be able to say more definitively that the fire has been contained,"  he added.

The affected area is on the road connecting Stara Zagora and  Starozagorski Mineralni Bani. Because of the flames, traffic has been stopped on the road from Stara Zagora to the junction for the village of Pryaporets and has been redirected to the village of Borilovo under police supervision. 

Chief Commissioner Krassimir Hristov, head of the Regional Directorate of Interior, said that another part of the police teams on site have helped evacuate older and sick people from the affected area. Specific data on the cause of the fire cannot be provided yet. Many alerts are being processed, he noted.

The electricity supply has been suspended for safety reasons, Stara Zagora Municipality Secretary Nikolay Dikov told reporters. The partial state of emergency will be in force for at least 24 hours.