SOFIA, Bulgaria
(AP) — Bulgaria sent troops to help stamp out dozens of wildfires
as a heatwave that began in June continued to trigger fires across
the Balkans, authorities said Thursday.
The government
said that 26 fires were still burning across Bulgaria, with a
total of almost 9,000 acres of forest and farmland destroyed.
In the worst-hit
area near Chirpan, 110 miles southeast of the capital Sofia, 2,223
acres of forest burned for a sixth day and local authorities have
declared a state of emergency.
Bulgaria has
said it would seek international aid to offset wildfire losses
that have already exceeded $19 million.
The fires
have been fueled by temperatures that have topped 104 on some
days, which is exceptional even in the hot Balkan summers. Authorities
report that seven people have died in Bulgaria since the wildfires
began three months ago.
In Croatia,
fires continue to burn in 11 areas. Some 535 wildfires have destroyed
50,300 acres of forests and underbrush so far this year, said
Petar Jurjevic of the country's forest service.
Residents
of Metkovic, a town of 12,000 that is 30 miles from the coastal
city of Dubrovnik, have been warned to prepare for a possible
evacuation as fires advance.
In Promina,
in the coastal region of Dalmatia, 420 firefighters backed by
planes and helicopters were trying to put out a blaze that has
already claimed about 7,400 acres of grass, underbrush and forest.
In southern
Serbia, residents of Dabinovac watched Thursday as a fire ate
its way toward their village in the U.N.-established zone separating
Kosovo from Serbia.
Residents
claimed that ethnic Albanian villagers from the northern Kosovo
region of Podujevo had intentionally set the blaze to try to detonate
mines laid in the border area by the Yugoslav army before it retreated
from Kosovo.
"If something
isn't done to put out the fire, in 24 hours it will reach Dabinovac,''
farmer Dejan Milosevic said.
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