Skopje, 24 July 2024 (MIA) — Seven wildfires are burning across the country and local firefighting efforts can be bolstered by foreign help if necessary although there is currently no need for this; also, the rain may help crews fight the fires, Crisis Management Center head Stojanche Angelov told a press conference Wednesday.

According to Angelov, several firefighters and volunteers have suffered burns and bone fractures while battling the blazes. One firefighter broke both arms when he fell into a ravine, another firefighter broke one arm falling into the same ravine, and a volunteer broke his arm falling off a quadricycle.

Of the 27 wildfires reported on Tuesday nationwide, seven were still burning on Wednesday morning. Four had been brought under control, and 16 had been extinguished, Angelov said.

He said the fire in the municipality of Makedonski Brod was currently the most critical as it was spreading toward the Jasen nature reserve's hunting ground and the villages of Breznica and Tazhevo. 

A police helicopter has started dropping water on the fire, and two Protection and Rescue Directorate Air Tractors will be deployed as well. 

The wildfires include forest fires, brush fires, and hill fires, Angelov said, listing the currently active fires: at Strmol in the municipality of Plasnica; in Dolneni municipality's village of Nebregovo; Dolneni's village of Gostiraznhi, which spread from the Bogomila village in the municipality of Chashka; and near the villages of Mokreni, Gabrovnik, Oreshe and Belovishte.

The CMC head said most of these fires were burning on terrain that was hard to access or inaccessible so even if more firefighters were to be deployed, it would make no difference in the firefighting efforts. 

The Serta fires have been brought under control. "There is no active burning, but the situation is being closely monitored," Angelov said.

"We do not need foreign help. The country has enough of its own resources," he said, adding that the CMC's priority was protecting the safety of firefighters and the local population.

The damage from the wildfires, he said, was yet to be determined by National Forests or the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy.

According to Angelov, the Serta mountain fires were grassfires, bushfires, brushfires, and pine forest fires.

"The economic damage may not be great, but the ecological damage is," he said, pointing out that many plants that had maintained the soil structrure burned in the fires, so now rains might cause erosion. mr/