Kumanovo, 26 June 2025 (MIA) -- A local National Forests team has put out the fire in the Lipkovo region above the villages of Vaksince and Lojane that started three days ago, MIA's Kumanovo correspondent reports.

According to National Forests deputy general director Kire Mihailov citing information collected from drones flying above the area, there was no more smoke anywhere, which he said meant that the fire was "completely under control."

Mihailov said the fire had erupted at a illegal landfill near Vaksince and started spreading to ultimately burn on 500 hectares of grassland as well as some 30 hectares of pine forest.

"I regret that initially we could not coordinate well with the municipal authorities, but we quickly overcame this," he said, adding that National Forests staff as well as local firefighters had been battling the blazes.

"The fire threatened the Vaksince houses the second night, and it was then that the municipal authorities joined in and sent the machines and people we needed," he said.

"The next day, though, when Vaksince was no longer critical, they left us alone again so our staff was putting out the fire."

Mihailov said they had also been in contact with the Crisis Management Center and the Protection and Rescue Directorate as well as the CMC of neighboring Serbia because the fire had been spreading near the border. mr/