Skopje, 2 August 2021 (MIA) – Several wildfires have broken out Monday afternoon in parts of the country, including two near the town of Kochani, eastern North Macedonia, burning some dozen hectares of forest. The wildfire is spreading fast due to strong winds in the western part overlooking Kichevo and has already caught several houses nearby. The local firefighting brigade has responded to localize the wildfire, Kochani’s MIA correspondent reports. Also, a wildfire was reported near two mountainous villages in the Kochani region. The inaccessible terrain is making it hard to put out the fire. Local residents are attempting to battle the blazes alongside firefighters. A wildfire burning since this afternoon is spreading towards settlements in the Municipality of Rankovce, northeastern North Macedonia, after destroying a large area of a local forest, MIA’s Kriva Palanka correspondent reports. We are gravely affected, says municipal mayor Ivica Toshevski. “Houses are burning, there is outage because power poles have been burnt. We’re expecting assistance from neighboring municipalities and have asked for a helicopter after coordinating with the Protection and Rescue Directorate and the Crisis Management Center,” he stated. A wildfire is raging for two days overlooking the Kokino site near Kumanovo. Several local residents have been evacuated from their houses as the firefighting brigade is battling the blazes, MIA’s Kumanovo correspondent reports. Following reports of wildfires breaking out, the Protection and Rescue Directorate held an emergency meeting to mobilize fire protection teams and equipment. Directorate head Bekim Maksuti has issued order for mobilization of firefighting teams, which are already headed toward wildfire-hit areas. “We are calling all citizens to volunteer in the affected areas and to notify the Directorate about wildfires across the country. Together we can battle the blazes,” reads a post on the Directorate’s Facebook page.