Skopje, 9 September 2024 (MIA) — The national Protection and Rescue Directorate currently has only one working firefighting plane out of the three Air Tractor aircraft it owns, PRD director Xhevat Selami told MIA.

According to Selami, Spanish mechanics repaired the planes three days ago, but the problems returned.

"One plane needs to be serviced, and we had the other planes repaired three days ago in Prilep when the two planes were flying. I called the mechanics from Spain. They repaired the planes and they were working the same day, but the same problem appeared again," Selami said.

"Currently, we can use only one plane. For the other one, we have to wait until tomorrow to see whether it will be able to fly or not," he said.

Despite this, Crisis Management Center head Stojanche Angelov told MIA there was currently no need for additional aircraft. 

The Air Tractor that was working, Angelov said, was currently being used on the contained Prilep wildfire out of precaution.

"We are using the one Air Tractor in Prilep as a precautionary measure. We do not need other aircraft. The fire is not serious, but we are concerned that it could get out of control because of the quick-drying vegetation," Angelov said. mr/