Over 600 crisis situations managed, more than 200 rescue operations in the mountains and thousands of people rescued in distress. This is the balance sheet for 2025 of those who invest time, effort, and often even their health to help others, reports Nova TV.
Volunteers to the National Association are people of all ages and with different professions. They help put out large fires in the summer and floods after heavy rainfall in the fall. They participate in search operations in the mountains. According to the association, their number is growing. There is also a trend that more and more successful people in personal and professional terms want to become volunteers. However, there are still not enough of them. Of the 7,000 places planned in the state budget, only half are occupied.
In 2025, thanks to these people, over 600 accidents were controlled, and their number is not final, as more data is yet to be collected.
The association has approximately 250 formations spread across the country. The largest of them - those in Sofia and Plovdiv - have around 80 people, while the smallest have five members each. The youngest volunteers are 18 years old, and the oldest is just over 70.
The official formations are part of a unified rescue system, with each candidate first undergoing selection and then mandatory training. There is still no law that would regulate their activities and protect them by providing them with equipment, tax breaks, and additional leave. In the summer, a volunteer was even fired after being absent from work due to fighting a fire in Pirin.
The volunteers of one of the largest and oldest organizations - the Bulgarian Red Cross - number over 16,500. They participate in health and educational campaigns, social and humanitarian activities, provide first aid and support to those affected by disasters. About 7,000 of them are members of the youth structure. These are schoolchildren, university students or simply young people aged 14 to 35, who are members of about 270 clubs throughout the country.
The Bulgarian Red Cross also has specialized units such as water rescuers and the Mountain Rescue Service, which this year alone has carried out over 200 rescue operations and helped over 3,000 people.
Since there is no register of volunteers, it is difficult to say how many Bulgarians are engaged in such activities, whether formally - through organizations, or informally.
According to Eurostat calculations, 12% of citizens of the European Union participate in formal volunteer activities. This share is highest among the Dutch - 36%. Denmark and Luxembourg follow with 25% each. Unfortunately, we are last, with a share of volunteers of only 3%.
There are more participants in informal volunteer activities. In the Netherlands, which is also first here, the majority of the population - as much as 73% - helps someone in need, and in Sweden every second person does this.
Only in our country are there not more, but fewer of these people. According to European statistics, informal volunteering in Bulgaria turns out to be even less popular than formal. Ahead of us in this ranking, as in the previous one, are Italy and Romania. Germany and Finland have not provided data.
In our country, of the 600 crisis situations in 2025, controlled with the help of volunteers, a large part were severe fires in the summer. The burned, and not just affected areas for the year, are almost 330 square kilometers. The number of fires is 92, but this statistic from the European Forest Fire Information System only includes those that affected an area of over 30 hectares. This made 2025 the third worst year in the last 20.
In Blagoevgrad alone, dozens of volunteers joined in extinguishing them. Damyan Stanev has been a volunteer for 4 years. He has been involved in various actions, such as the earthquake in Turkey, collecting aid and transporting it, extinguishing mostly forest fires, and clearing fallen branches in winter.
The memory of the burning Pirin still smolders in the hearts of those who fought the flames. The crackling of the trees, the crying of the animals, and the dying nature remain deep in Damyan Stanev's mind as well.
„Pirin burned! "And the main problem is that most of the volunteers work somewhere. There is no understanding from the employers and they can't always release them. From the moment the formation is activated, we have 30 minutes to get to the base. And in the summer, usually the holiday season, not everyone always manages to react," says Damian. He almost always joins the actions simply because he doesn't have an employer.
According to Stanev, volunteering is underestimated by both the public and the state itself. “You know how long we have been waiting for a law on volunteering. The formations are not only municipal. There are those where the provision is much more difficult. So, if you want to be a volunteer, you have to provide yourself with equipment, personal protective equipment, etc.”, explains Damyan. This is precisely what stops many people who want to help.