Three weeks after the fire in an ammunition warehouse in the Dryanovo village of Gorni Varpishta, people in the area are still worried. There were no victims or injured in the incident, only material damage.
However, in the village of Tsareva Livada, they are still worried about the causes and whether measures will be taken against possible future incidents.
Krassimir Kirilov lives in the village of Tsareva Livada, which is 4 kilometers from Gorni Varpishta. It was there that a fire broke out in an ammunition warehouse on September 11. Kirilov was doing his military service during the construction of the military plant.
„In 83, I entered the barracks. In 1984, 1986 I was fired - but the workshop, the factory that makes cast iron bombs, was being built. There was strict control, only here they worked, only soldiers worked, there were no workers at that time, because the factory had not been launched. We were making some bombs here, which exploded 20 days ago, at the top. These same bombs are also in Belitsa. I was a welder then, an assembler. Nobody expected that the time would come for these factories to explode,“ says Krasimir Kirilov, a resident of Tsareva Livada.
After the explosions in the warehouse in Belitsa on August 10, a partial state of emergency was declared in the municipality of Tryavna, which expired on September 13. After the fire in the warehouse, the institutions were back on the ground, but the fear and stress among the people remain.
„Then the necessary measures were taken by the police, the fire department, the regional governor, and the mayor of the Dryanovo municipality. The road was blocked for residents of the surrounding villages, measures were taken to prevent access to the explosions and the factories. People were worried about their health, as they were not sure - whether this smoke was harmful or not, but the tests showed that everything was normal“, says Yordanka Ivanova, acting mayor of the village of Tsareva Livada.
„Two days ago, a military helicopter was circling - probably ten meters from the house, it passed twice. It was rumored - the station here is a connecting station, all trains stop and that's all the rumored. People are scared and everyone is thinking all sorts of things. What could happen again! Twice in two months, twice bombs, it's like we're at war!“, says Krasimir Kirilov.
According to the people from the village, the safety measures at the military warehouses are low.
„There is a checkpoint, but there are no guards at the checkpoint! The checkpoint is inland, here by the road, the checkpoint is abandoned, the windows are broken, everything is broken. When I look at the security guards - elderly people, pensioners“, says Krasimir Kirilov.
„My first thought is that they are not reliably protected after these things happen. I don't know how many guards there are - maybe two people. Such things happen often. What the mistake is, we don't know, they haven't announced it yet“, commented Todorov, a resident of Tsareva Livada.
EMKO told BTV that security and video surveillance in the warehouse areas have never been suspended, and the existing safety measures have always been up to standard, according to the current regulations.
The company added that so far there has not been a single completed investigation related to incidents in the factories from 2011 to 2023.
“On October 29, 2026, all specially assigned inspections were completed in all warehouse areas of the company. Specialized institutions, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs, have no comments. This was the case back in the years, with each warehouse being inspected at least once a month and there were never any remarks or instructions“, the company states.
On September 29, military personnel completed securing the area around Gorni Vrpishta. The Ministry of Defense announced that 297 acres of land had been cleared and no unexploded ordnance had been found.
The investigation into the fire and the exploded warehouse in Belitsa is being conducted under the leadership of the District Prosecutor's Office - Gabrovo. Expertise has been ordered, witnesses are being questioned to clarify the causes that led to the two incidents.