Wildfires continued to burn across North Macedonia two weeks after the blazes first started, with a minister on Wednesday calling the situation a “national catastrophe”.
With few resources, the country’s firefighters have struggled to combat the blazes amid a blistering heat wave that regularly saw temperatures hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
According to the centre for crisis management, seven fires remained active across North Macedonia as of Wednesday morning.
During a press conference in Skopje, Interior Minister Pance Toskovski called the situation a “national catastrophe” and said the government lacked “a system that will appropriately respond to crisis situations, especially concerning fires”.
Officials have not provided information about the amount of damage caused by the fires, but have vowed to provide exact details once the blazes are extinguished.
Last week, the country relied on air support from its neighbours to help battle the fires, with planes and helicopters assisting emergency responders on the ground.
The director of the centre for crisis management, Stojance Angelov, cited some progress saying a large fire in the mountainous region of Serta was now under control.
Weather forecasters said rain expected later Wednesday would also help extinguish the fires.
Earlier this month, the government declared a crisis situation — falling short of calling for a state of emergency — “due to increased occurrence of wildfires”.
A state of crises is proclaimed when the public and property face serious risks or dangers, which demands an injection of significant government resources.
Summers in North Macedonia are regularly disrupted by scattered wildfires, with blazes in 2021 destroying around 10,000 hectares of forest land.
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