The Forest fire in Kresna Gorge Brought under Control

For sixth consecutive days, firefighters and volunteers have been battling the wildfire, which destroyed thousands of decares of forests in the area of Kresna Gorge in Western Bulgaria.

The evacuation of residents of the village of Vlahi has been cancelled.

On 29^th of August, the fire was brought under control.

More than 600 people and three helicopters take part in suppressing the blaze.

At a press conference in the city of Blagoevgrad, representatives of the regional prosecutor’s office said that the person who caused the fire was detained. On Thursday, 24^th of August, a herdsman took 70 cows out for feeding in the wild, but the cows scattered. The man started to round them up but before that he was smoking and threw his cigarette. He turned and saw a big fire broke out behind him. He tried to put it out but and did not manage and called the mayor of the village of Brezhani to report the fire, but did not tell him he caused it. At a later stage during a police interview, he admitted he caused it.

The fire is now brought under control, with some hot spots but there is no risk to flare up.

There is no danger for the residents of the villages in the area.

The Minister of Interior, Valentin Radev, said the crisis management centre is closed.

There were no victims - neither residents nor firefighters. There will be enough teams on duty in the night to monitor the situation and prevent further flare ups.