There have been numerous wildfires in the southern district of Dropull, 250 kilometers south of the capital Tirana. Fires there have been made worse by wind with firefighters hampered by a lack of equipment and the means to access the remote mountainous areas.
Authorities in Albania have requested assistance from the European Union to help tackle wildfires in the south of the country.
Interior Minister Taulant Balla said on Thursday the government has asked for help from the European Commission’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC).
“We are in contact with the Centre of the European Mechanism of Solidarity through which we would like to continue the fight from the air because, as we have seen, it is almost impossible to intervene at a great part of the existing fire locations,” he said.
Balla said it was “impossible” for the country’s firefighters and military personnel to extinguish fires in some remote mountainous areas and they only had one Cougar helicopter at their disposal.
“We have not won the war. We likely have won some small battles but the war with such an extended fire of some kilometres is difficult,” he added.
There have been numerous wildfires in the southern district of Dropull, 250 kilometres south of the capital Tirana. It’s close to the border with Greece and inhabited mainly by an ethnic Greek minority.
Fires there have been fanned by wind with firefighters hampered by a lack of equipment and the means to access the remote mountainous areas.
Albania has been hit by a heatwave with temperatures reaching 42 degrees Celsius in some central areas. The Defence Ministry says that extreme heat has caused at least 23 wildfires to break out in the last 24 hours alone.
European heatwave
Meanwhile, the heatwave which has affected parts of central and southern Europe has sent the mercury rising in nearby Serbia.
Authorities there recorded temperatures in the north of around 35 degrees Celsius and in the capital Belgrade, doctors reported treating people who had collapsed, felt dizzy or complained of headaches due to the heat.
Serbian authorities have said that the increased use of air conditioning has led to huge power consumption similar to levels normally seen in winter, when many in the Balkan country use electricity for heating.
During a previous heat wave last month, Montenegro, Bosnia, Croatia and Albania faced a major power outage amid the overload and a collapse of a regional distribution line.
And there were similar high temperatures in Slovenia.
“We are in a heatwave which will last longer that the two we had in June. It will also be stronger. Yesterday was the third day that qualified this as a heatwave. That is why we issued a warning yesterday. The heat was and will continue to range between 30 and 36 degrees Celsius,” said meteorologist, Branko Gregorcic.