Skopje, 20 August 2025 (MIA) - In a social media post Wednesday, the Army said it has conducted air interventions as part of the efforts to extinguish the Jasen wildfire, dropping around 102 tons of water with a Mi-8MT helicopter.

“Members of the special forces battalion ‘Wolves’ were also involved in the fight against the fire. In close coordination with members of the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit ‘Tiger’, they were deployed to clear and manage difficult and steep terrain in order to prevent further spreading of the fire,” the Army said. 

The Army added the operation to contain the fire and prevent its further spread is being conducted in cooperation with the Crisis Management Center, and with the aim of protecting the population, property and environment.

The head of the Protection and Rescue Directorate (PRD), Stojanche Angelov, said there were six wildfires in the country on Wednesday, of which two remain active, while the rest have been extinguished. 

“A new fire that broke out yesterday is the fire near the village of Belovodica in the Municipality of Prilep which is burning at a significant altitude on difficult terrain, because of that we deployed an Air Tractor to assist the firefighters from Prilep. The severe fire in the Jasen hunting ground continues, a blaze that has been active for days and was unaffected by the rain. However, thanks to the dedicated efforts of army and police special forces we managed to suppress the upper sections,” Angelov said.

The PRD head said only one section of the wildfire in Jasen remains active and it is spreading towards Lake Kozjak, more specifically towards a restaurant on the shore of Lake Kozjak.

Angelov added that if the air interventions don’t suppress the fire, the plan is to prevent the fire from spreading to the other side of the mountain ridge. Army and police units are working to create a fire line on exceptionally steep terrain.

Photo: Army/Screenshot