Wildfire raging in the area of Devin

A wildfire, caused by thunder, is burning in a steep area above the village of Teshel, the region of Devin in the Rhodope mountains, Southern Bulgaria.

The fire is located on difficult terrain, firefighters walk for two hours on foot on goat paths to reach the fire. The slope is steep. More than 30 people-firefighters, foresty officials and volunteers-managed to dig trenches and surround the fire to prevent it from spreading.

They are trying to put it out using tool like tampers, shovels, hand sprayers. The perimeter covered is about 50 decares. "The fire is low-lying, burning on the peat below. It's an old black pine forest, it's all like gunpowder, they used to get resin from there," firefighters explained.

Local teams were joined this morning by a helicopter from the air base near Plovdiv to help in the extinguishing.