Skopje, 10 August 2024 (MIA) - A total of 12 wildfires were registered until 1 pm on Saturday, four of which have been completely extinguished, and three have been contained, while five are still active, said the head of the Crisis Management Center (CMC), Stojanche Angelov.

"The emphasis was again placed on extinguishing the large fire on the territory of Makedonski Brod, which we have been battling for more than 20 days," said Angelov, adding that two air tractors and firefighters on the ground are battling a part of this fire, while another part of the fire moving towards the weekend houses on Kozjak was almost put out. 

He noted that yesterday, in agreement with the Hungarian firefighting team, a backfire was created on the fire belt to prevent the fire from spreading across the grass to the weekend houses.

"The third branch of this fire is the one headed towards the Jasen hunting ground. It is still active, and we are fighting it with two air tractors," Angelov said. 

He added that on the territory of Makedonski Brod a fire is also burning near the village of Plasnica where two air tractor planes from Cyprus are engaged. 

The fire on Galichica Mountain headed towards Stenje is also active, and two air tractor planes are also engaged there. 

"Today we received reports from Air Traffic Control about two new fires, the first of which is burning near the village of Orle in Sveti Nikole, where ground forces were urgently deployed, and I believe that the local firefighters will quickly deal with it. There is also a new fire on Suva Gora Mountain opposite the village of Laskarci," said Angelov. 

According to Angelov, there are currently four foreign air tractors available, two of which are Germany and two from Cyprus. The Slovenian helicopter that arrived today will be engaged as of tomorrow. Tomorrow, the Hungarian team of 46 firefighters with special vehicles, which was battling the fire in the region of Makedonski Brod, is also leaving the country.

Photo: MIA archive