Firefighting efforts continued on Tuesday in Bulgaria’s Yambol and Haskovo provinces, where more than 30 fire trucks and 100 volunteers, including military personnel, were deployed to contain multiple wildfires, Deputy Interior Minister Toni Todorov said.
Speaking from the village of Srem, near the fire zone, Todorov described the situation as “tense,” particularly in areas between the two southern regions. “There are currently 30 fire engines operating on the ground and 100 volunteers involved, 25 of whom are from the Ministry of Defence,” he said.
Todorov confirmed that fire fronts threatening populated areas had been contained, but cautioned that wind conditions remained a critical factor. “The wind continues to complicate our work,” he said.
The deputy minister also addressed the delayed arrival of firefighting aircraft expected from Sweden, stating he could not explain the delay but hoped the planes would arrive by 0900 local time on Wednesday, weather permitting.
Separately, the scale of the fires has been captured via satellite imagery. Using data from the European Copernicus system and the Sentinel-2 satellite, authorities observed that burned areas in the Ilindentsi region grew from 13,000 decares on July 26 to over 30,000 decares just one day later.
Further images showed that fires in the Sakar mountain area have scorched nearly 60,000 decares between July 25 and 28. Data from NASA satellites confirmed widespread fire activity across the country over the past week, with active hotspots persisting around Ilindentsi and Lesovo.
Officials said the number of active fires has declined slightly but stressed that several remain under close observation.