The fire in Rila continues to test the strength of the firefighters. For over 10 days now, firefighters, forest officials and volunteers have been tirelessly fighting the flames, which have engulfed difficult-to-reach terrain in the mountain.
A military helicopter has also been called in to help. The efforts of the teams are enormous, and the conditions are extremely difficult. Extinguishing is almost entirely by hand. The fire is spreading in a grassy manner, as the fire is very high up and there are no forests there. The wind is strong and constantly changing direction.
Director of the Blagoevgrad Regional Fire and Rescue Service, Commissioner Valentin Vassilev, explained that the flames are at an altitude of over 2,000 m. Two very large clearings were built yesterday to limit the spread of the flames. The two fronts of the fire are northwest and south, and work will be done on both today.
He categorically stated that the fire is not localized. He added that weather conditions have a huge impact on the situation. High-pass vehicles are being used, since in places the slope is about 70 degrees, there is water for extinguishing - volunteers have built a water supply line, and there is also a reservoir.