Albania is covered by fires! 13 fires have come ablaze in the recent 24 hours throughout the country. Even military forces have gone to support firefighters.

With summer temperatures at high altitudes and lack of rain, the wildfires have spread in Albania throughout the country last days, burning whole areas of forests and pastures. The Civil Emergency Service informed that a further 13 fires have come ablaze in the recent 24 hours throughout the country. As temperatures remain extremely high throughout the country, while the mercury to surge past 40C the chance of new fires erupting is persistent. According to civil emergency officials, 13 forest and bush fires raged in the regions of Shkodra, Gjirokastra, Vlora, Elbasan, Tirana, Korça, Fier and Dibra. Several dozen acres of land have been burnt down. The Civil Emergency Service has advised that 50 fire-fighting teams, 15 vehicles supported by police and 30 military forces, along with volunteers and helicopters, are all engaged in the battle to extinguish the flames. The Civil Emergency Department says that the danger of fires remains high under the conditions of hot weather. The fire in Dibër resulted in the burning of 3 hectares of bushes and beech trees. In Bulqiza, the same level of damage was seen. Shkodër suffered from about 2.5 hectares of bushes and pine trees being burned. The fires have also burnt 2 hectares of trees and bushes in Fier, one hectare in Gjirokastër and 2 hectares in Korçë. Certainly, the most devastating fire of the day occurred in Vlorë, where flames burnt about 90 hectares of bushes, oak trees and beech trees. The country’s armed forces have joined forces with civil firefighting units to help stop the fires. In all, about 200 people are actively fighting the fires, authorities said. Due to the high risk and the impossibility of using firefighting vehicles, Albanian army helicopters are also involved in fighting rural fires in Dibër and Tepelena. Fires are also threatening inhabited areas in Shkodra region. Firefighters continue to battle blazes. Firefighters have intervened in all cases despite the difficult terrain. Even military forces have gone to support firefighters. In any case fire flames are far from the inhabited area. Wildfires are not new in Albania, causing considerable damage to the country’s economy and the environment every year. Authorities and residents complain there is a lack of adequate capacity to cope with such situations. In most municipalities, firefighting vehicles are old and some don’t work at all. In other towns, there is no fire service at all. Albania is also the only country in the region that has no specialized aircraft to extinguish fires from the air, particularly needed in difficult terrain where land-based vehicles cannot go. According meteorologist After a week with extremely high temperatures as a result of the incredibly hot Saharan air masses, at this weekend are expected changes in atmospheric conditions.