There may have been weaknesses, we are yet to do analyses, but in At the beginning, when the flames engulfed the village of Voden, there were many people who refused to leave their homes and were forcibly removed. As a result of all the efforts of the field staff, the situation is starting to improve. There were extremely many field teams working in the field. At the moment, there is no danger to populated areas. We have no victims or injured. The situation is normalizing.
This was stated by the Acting Minister of Internal Affairs, Kalin Stoyanov, in the program “ More from the day” on BNT from the village of Voden, which was badly affected by the fires.
„The BG-ALERT system is one of the measures that can be used in a disaster. As it became clear here, there was no coverage of mobile operators and no electricity. Even if everything was fine and the system had worked, there were many people who refused to leave their homes”, said the interior minister and added: “I am sure that the system will work in the future”, said Kalin Stoyanov.
„Unfortunately, two boys from the fire department suffered minor injuries today. They were given medical help and at their request, they returned to put out the fire, he announced.
„We have damage, but we have no victims and injured, which is a priority for us. In the first place for us is life, then property. Employees with long experience tried the situation like this: “We have never seen anything like this”. A really difficult situation, but we are starting to master it”, summed up the minister.
According to Minister Stoyanov, DG Fire Safety and Protection of the Population currently has 800 firefighting vehicles, of which 70% were purchased in the last 7-8 years. There are many public procurements and this technique will be provided.
„For the last 24 hours, fire safety officials have received over 300 signals. There is no way, based only on the forecast that great heat is coming, that the equipment should stay here while they need it somewhere else. The technique was requested on time“, he revealed.
Minister Kalin Stoyanov stated that the situation in Beklemeto is serious, but forces will be regrouped and the situation will be brought under control. Any volunteer is welcome. I urge all volunteers to follow fire safety instructions and group up.
He expressed sincere gratitude to the people on the ground, with whom they managed to control the fiery element together. Needs for firefighting equipment such as aircraft and helicopters are yet to be analysed. In this regard, there is a need for re-equipment in many directions.