Fire Houses burn down in devastating fires in Bulgaria

In Bulgaria, fires lasting several days have destroyed dozens of houses as well as forest and agricultural land. In the south-eastern village of Woden alone, 35 houses burned down in extreme heat, drought and strong winds, Bulgarian media reported.

People also lost their livestock in the flames. Around 500 villagers and 19 people from a retirement home were evacuated to safety. In another fire near Harmanli, also in south-eastern Bulgaria, the fire destroyed a farm with sheep, according to an eyewitness.

The residents of Woden complained that they received no warning on their cell phones. According to the authorities, the BG Alert early warning system could not be activated because the electricity was switched off due to the fire and there was therefore no cell phone reception.

Resignations demanded

The forest and wildfires in temperatures of around 40 degrees became a political issue in the Balkan country. Head of government Dimitar Glawtschew and Interior Minister Kalin Stojanow were accused of failing to deal with the heat fires. Two parliamentary parties demanded the resignation of both politicians. During a visit to a village affected by the fires, head of government Glawtschew defended the firefighters' efforts. "It can't go fast enough for those affected," he said, emphasizing that no lives were lost.

Bulgaria was supported in the firefighting efforts by teams from the Czech Republic and neighboring Turkey. Meteorologists are expecting rain and thunderstorms in the coming days.