Negotino, 16 July 2024 (MIA) — Bringing the Serta mountain wildfire under control is extremely difficult despite it burning right next to the road; there are many hot spots, according to Crisis Management Center head Stojanche Angelov on Tuesday evening.

"The entire valley is completely covered in smoke, which makes it difficult for helicopters to navigate and fly. This is an extremely difficult terrain to extinguish this massive fire covering a huge territory of Serta mountain," Angelov said.

He said firefighters were fighting the fire on the ground but no aircraft were flying.

"It is not safe. The smoke that is behind me does not allow the planes to come down to the required height to put out the fire," he said.

There were explosions at the Krivolak training ground also, he said, from grenades, bullets and other unexploded explosives left behind from military drills. This made it unsafe for firefighters both on the ground and in the air, he added.

He said they would try to contain the fire from spreading farther by digging up the ground with tractors and bulldozers, although that was difficult to do as well, given the steep terrain of ravines and rocks.

"The Serta mountain road is closed due to the smoke," Angelov said. "The temperature is very high. It is really very hot and there is a lot of smoke, which makes it difficult to breathe for people extinguishing the fire," the CMC head said.

Local firefighters are being helped by army members, police, hunters, volunteers, and National Forests staff in tackling the wildfire near Negotino. It broke out on Wednesday around 10:30 am. mr/