Yesterday was the most difficult day in this fire season in terms of the threat to settlements, because we had two alarming fires. During yesterday, we had over 40 wildfires, of which six are currently active. These six do not threaten settlements, nor is there a danger of them entering a quality forest, Protection and Rescue Directorate (PRD) head StojancheAngelov said Friday morning.
He explained that yesterday the riskiest was in two settlements: the village of Bogomila, where the fire reached the first houses.
“Thanks to the courageous and swift reaction of the locals, a catastrophe was averted, but firefighters from Veles also arrived quickly, who made a great contribution to the initial localization, control and extinguishing of this severe fire,” said Angelov.
The situation was the most difficult in the Pelagonia region, where the fire threatened several villages – Ivanjevci, Lozneni and Novoselani.
In Lozneni, the fire was 50 meters above the houses when Angelov arrived at the scene and the fire was moving in tall dry grass towards the first houses in the village.
Firefighters from Bitola tried to contain the fire, but their forces were too small for the elements, so Angelov requested the intervention of four Pinzgauers from the State Fire Service.
“The line of fire was extremely long. Then we deployed the Pinzgauers, the fight against the fire lasted several hours and the local population made a great contribution. Then I requested the engagement of a team from the State Fire Service consisting of 20 members of the voluntary association ‘Arhangel’ from Bitola. The volunteers arrived quickly, deployed with backpacks, with brooms, and helped extinguish the remaining fields,” informedAngelov.
