The large fire has been localized near the villages of Opitsvet, Bezden and Bogyovtsi near Kostinbrod. The municipality declared a partial state of emergency.
Chief Inspector Boyko Stoyanov from the National Fire Service explained to the Bulgarian National Radio that there are residual areas with fire:
"There is no burning on all fronts. The residual burning is inside the fire itself. There are protected houses. It means that there is no way that this front, which had risen and entered the two villages of Bogyovtsi and Bezden, can again head towards residential buildings. There is no danger to people. Overall, the situation is calm".
It is more realistic that the fire will be extinguished tomorrow at noon, predicts Boyko Stoyanov from the National Fire Department.
Early in the morning, a resident of Bezden said that there had been no reaction from the fire department for a long time: "Are these the state institutions? The fire department is gone, the water supply is gone, there is no water, and then what do you expect? People helped themselves, you understand?"
"Still, the front was extremely large, with strong winds" - said Chief Inspector Boyko Stoyanov and added: "And all forces and resources were precisely directed to these fronts in order to protect the houses and protect the settlements. There is water, volunteers are needed for the moment".
The director of the fire department, Chief Commissioner Alexander Dzhartov, explained that the BG Alert system had not been activated for the area: "The system is functional, so I cannot say why it was not activated. We have teams deployed on site so that we can protect the settlements. This is the first priority".
The deputy mayor of Kostinbrod, Alexander Nenov, quoted firefighters who indicated that the fire came from the area of the "Slivnitsa" polygon:
"We cannot say where exactly, but it came from this direction, from this area that we call "Polygona". It is entering our territory quite quickly and because of the wind.
The Ministry of Defense denied that the cause of the fire was activities at "Slivnitsa". There has been no activity there in recent days. They also recalled that since the end of June, shooting and exercises have been suspended at all training centers and ranges due to the risk of fires.
The military added that 50 people are currently extinguishing the "Slivnitsa" range, and the fire originated in the land of the town of Slivnitsa.