Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

More than 200 forest fires in Bulgaria since beginning of 2016

Photo: BGNES

Since the beginning of the year, more than 200 forest fires have taken place on the territory of Bulgaria. Natural fires that erupted because of lightning were just 2 percent. Seven percent of fires were proven to be intentional. 80 percent were caused by negligence and 14 percent erupted because of unknown reasons. "Guilt of perpetrators is difficult to prove as they must be caught while committing the crime. In most cases authorities rely on confessions from perpetrators," Vladimir Konstantinov, an expert from the Forestry Agency, told the Bulgarian National Radio in an interview. Currently, there are video surveillance systems, enabling prevention and rapid response to fires, but they cover about 15-20% of the forest areas of the country, the expert added. Each year some 22,000 decares of Bulgarian forests burn.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

EBRD to establish a technology center in Bulgaria focused on AI

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will open a technology center in Bulgaria focused on emerging technologies such as Big Data , artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and cloud services. This becomes possible after the..

published on 11/19/25 4:58 PM

Numerous violations along Bulgarian Black Sea Coast found in inspections after the deadly floods

Violations were found in 27% of the inspected sections along the Black Sea coast , according to the control authorities of the Ministry of Environment and Water. Minister Manol Genov ordered the inspection following the October floods in the southern..

published on 11/19/25 4:46 PM

President Rumen Radev again calls for a referendum on the introduction of the euro

With 128 votes in favour, the governing majority in Parliament and three independent MPs rejected the president’s veto on the Law on Defence and the Armed Forces. The amendments expand the possibilities for declaring a state of emergency and..

published on 11/19/25 1:00 PM