The extreme summer weather continues to test security forces and citizens throughout Bulgaria.
As of 4:00 a.m. on August 9, the situation at the most critical points of the past 24 hours remains dynamic, but under the control of firefighters and rescue teams. While Southern Bulgaria is battling the fire, the Northwest was hit by a sudden strong storm.
Two large fires in Haskovo region brought under control
The two dangerous fires that broke out in the Haskovo region have now been completely localized, reports the information portal Nova.bg (https://nova.bg/news/view/2026/08/08/547087/). According to official data from regional authorities, there is no immediate danger to nearby settlements.
Dimitrovgrad: One of the fires ignited near the “Maryino” neighborhood. The fire burned about 500 acres of land, consisting mainly of dry grass and bushes. Four teams of the “Fire Safety and Population Protection“ were on site. Harmanli: The second fire broke out between the villages of Cherepovo and Branitsa, covering 200 acres of deciduous forest and forcing the declaration of a partial state of emergency for the village of Branitsa. Employees of the State Forestry and local volunteers joined the extinguishing.
The crisis in Visoka Mogila: The versions of the fire are being investigated
The heavy battle with the fire in the land of the Boboshevo village of Visoka Mogila continues. The front on the side of the village has already been controlled and there is no direct danger to the houses, BNT reported on its news site Bntnews.bg (https://bntnews.bg/news/prodalzhava-borbata-s-ognenata-stihiya-do-boboshevskoto-selo-visoka-mogila-1407140news.html). However, the flames have entered the nearby oak forest and are spreading towards the town of Boboshevo and the village of Sopovo.
The services are working on two main versions of the start of the fire, which started around noon on the roof of an uninhabited building:
Short circuit in the electrical network of the old house. A forgotten brandy cauldron or human negligence when handling an open fire.Dozens of firefighters from Kyustendil, Dupnitsa and Rila remain on the scene, assisted by Sofia teams and bulldozers to clear the fire. Fortunately, the wind in the area died down in the late hours.
A summer storm with hurricane-force winds turned the streets of Montana into rivers
While the GDPBZN teams were extinguishing fires in Southern Bulgaria, a powerful summer storm hit the city of Montana on Saturday evening. Within just ten minutes at around 8:00 p.m., torrential rain, accompanied by hurricane-force winds, poured over the city, the Bulgarian National Radio reported on the Bnrnews.bg website (https://bnrnews.bg/horizont/post/513320/signali-za-padnali-kloni-i-darveta-sled-moshtna-burya-v-montana).
The streets turned into full-flowing rivers in seconds, and strong gusts displaced garbage containers and broke dozens of trees. Firefighters responded promptly to numerous signals. One of the most critical incidents was at the Center for Accommodation of Persons with Mental Retardation, where a huge fallen tree landed centimeters from the gas distribution box. At the moment, there are no reports of injured citizens, and the teams continue to clear the road infrastructure.