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

Partial state of emergency in Chepelare municipality remains in force

The fires in Bulgaria's Rhodope Mountain destroy century-old forest (update)

| updated on 8/30/23 1:32 PM
Photo: BGNES

The declared partial state of emergency remains in force in the municipality of Chepelare in the Rhodope Mountains due to the large fire near the village of Hvoina. During the night, teams of the fire department were on duty at the site, and the volunteers who want to help with the extinguishing of the flames gathered this morning in the town.

The fire is now partially contained, but there are still isolated outbreaks and in places it continues to grow, and has now destroyed a more than 100-year old pine forest. According to information of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, for a third day, more than 100 forestry workers, firefighters and volunteers have been trying to extinguish the fire still raging above Hvoyna village. More than 100 hectares have been engulfed by the flames, there are separate outbreaks which have not been localized. The heavy machinery which is providing fire engines access to terrains that are difficult of access is still in use, clearings are being cut to stop the spread of the fire. Six teams of firefighters worked through the night to stop the spread of the fire.

Today, helicopters are again expected to be involved in the firefighting operation.



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

The Bulgarian army will gradually make up for its personnel shortage

The Bulgaria army will make up for the lack of personnel but not immediately. For 2025, we have money to hire only 1,000 new soldiers, said Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov before the relevant parliamentary committee.  The committee supported the..

published on 10/23/25 11:32 AM

Bulgarian electricity exports guarantee the electricity balance in the Balkans

Bulgaria remains a net exporter of electricity and one of the pillars of the energy system in Southeast Europe. Electricity exports exceed imports by 3.1% in 2024. According to this indicator, the country ranks 11th in Europe.  Among the..

published on 10/23/25 10:08 AM

Sofia University takes over the presidency of the “Transform4Europe” alliance for one year

At a ceremony at the Vytautas Magnus University in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas , the rector of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Prof. Georgi Valchev, accepted the rotating presidency of the international university alliance..

published on 10/23/25 8:43 AM