Over 7,000 hectares of mixed forest have been destroyed by the fire that had been raging for a week in the eastern Rhodope Mountains (south-central Bulgaria). The fire, which was under control on Wednesday, was burning in a impassable area that could not be reached by firefighters' equipment. Only isolated hotspots remain.

A Greek MI-26 helicopter with a capacity of 15 tons of water joined the firefighting efforts for the third time on Wednesday. The helicopter covered a 3km area to the north of Ivailovgrad. It was provided at the request of the Bulgarian authorities under a co-operation agreement between the two countries' relevant services.

A Bulgarian military helicopter was also used in fighting the fire. On Wednesday, 14 fire trucks, four Civil Protection vehicles, and some 150 individuals from the police, the army, the State Forestry Board, Civil Protection and local residences were assisting the effort.

The number had reached over 550 people on Saturday, when the fire was advancing along a 20km front. That day, a state of emergency was declared in the municipality of Ivailovgrad, and the Greek authorities were informed that the fire might spread to Greek territory. Over the weekend the fire front came within 500m of the border, threatening to spread into Greece. The danger was eventually neutralized.

On Wednesday, the Ivailovgrad Municipality remained a disaster area. However, there was no risk to the population, said Colonel Roumen Yotov from the National Fire and Emergency Safety Service headquarters in the region.

Minister Without Portfolio Nezhdet Mollov, who chairs the government Disaster Response Commission, attended an extraordinary meeting of the regional disaster response commission on Wednesday. Negligence and the setting of stubble fields on fire by residents were the main causes of the fires in southern Bulgaria, said Mollov in Haskovo.

Interior Minister Georgi Petkanov told the national radio on Sunday that there were suspicions about arson in connection with the export of timber.