Battle Against Wildfire in The Area of Trakia Motorway Continues for More Than Eight Hours

The wildfire that has been burning for more than eight hours near the 69th kilometre of the Trakia Motorway continues to spread. Two Cougar helicopters and dozens of volunteers have joined the efforts to contain the blaze.

The section of the motorway from Burgas towards Sofia has been reopened to traffic, but the stretch from the capital towards Plovdiv remains closed.

Borislav Bogoslovov, Regional Governor of Pazardzhik:
"There is no danger to the population. First of all, I would like to thank Prime Minister Rumen Radev and Mr Demerdzhiev for securing two helicopters, without which we would not have been able to cope in these heavily forested areas. Teams from the Regional Directorate for Fire Safety and Civil Protection are on site. All the volunteers we were able to mobilise are also here. I believe that, for the moment, we have brought the situation under control. We remain on standby."

Miroslav Stoyanov, spokesperson for the Pazardzhik Regional Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior:
"I would not say that it is continuing to spread at the same rate as it was, say, an hour or two ago, because the extremely timely intervention of the two Cougar helicopters made it possible to stop the fire in the most difficult-to-reach, or virtually inaccessible, areas — to the left of the Trakia Motorway, on the carriageway towards Sofia."

The battle against the wildfire in the Pazardzhik region continues. Visibility on the Trakia Motorway is extremely poor, and motorists are urged to drive with caution.