The Hemus highway reopened at the Slanchevo junction around 8:20 this morning after a fire forced its closure yesterday. While the fire has been contained, the overall situation in Bulgaria remains challenging due to numerous fires breaking out in various locations.

"The situation is gradually normalizing. It is still complicated in terms of the actions that we should take in Svilengrad municipality. There, the fire that started a few days ago continues. The area that has reached is over 120,000 decares. Regardless of everything at this stage we are rather optimistic, considering that we have been working all night. Yesterday we managed to limit the large fronts. I hope that the fire will be localized within the framework of today," said Alexander Zhartov, Director of the Main Directorate of Fire Safety and Population Protection, speaking to BNT.

The fire that started last week in the Plovdiv Municipality - Hisarya, is still being extinguished.

In Osogovo, the fire was localized, as was the one on the border with North Macedonia, though neither has been fully extinguished. At 4 a.m., the wind caused the fire in Ograzhden to flare up again, but the situation was brought under control.

"In the Osogovo mountain, the fire is entirely on our territory. At the moment, the fire is localized and the work continues. There is another fire that is on the border with North Macedonia, it is in the Petrich region. It occurred on their territory, we have teams of terrain," explained Zhartov.

The director of the General Directorate of Fire Safety and Population Protection described the recent days as extremely intense for firefighters. "The main challenge was to preserve settlements. At this point, there is no danger to settlements."

The fire has destroyed 20,000 decares of coniferous forests in Hisarya and Kaloyanovo.

Forces of the fire service in Plovdiv remain concentrated in the Srednogorie area today as well, due to smoldering fires and the expected high temperatures. According to Chief Inspector Dimitar Brishimov, head of the "Firefighting and Rescue Activity" sector, the situation remains complicated. The fire has already destroyed about 20,000 acres of mainly coniferous forests in the municipalities of Hisarya and Kaloyanovo.

Near the village of Ivan Vazovo, isolated outbreaks persist in abandoned vineyards that are being cultivated. From the village of Mikhiltsi, the situation has normalized, but every ignition message on the perimeter is checked.

Today, there are no volunteers in the area of the outbreaks, where a partial state of emergency was declared. Firefighters and forestry officials are on the ground, and support from servicemen from the 61st Stryam Mechanized Brigade is expected.

Meteorologists warn that the peak of the heat is yet to come, with 43-44 degrees expected in places between July 16 and 18. Firefighters have issued a hot appeal: do not light fires in the open air or throw cigarette butts out of car windows.