Bulgaria’s Targovishte Region Sees 187 Fires Since April, Mostly from Human Negligence
Jerusalem, 14 August, 2025 (TPS-IL) -- Targovishte (BTA) – A total of 187 fires have occurred in eastern Bulgaria’s Targovishte region since the beginning of the fire season, most of them caused by careless handling of fire. This was announced in response to a question from BTA by the head of the Regional Directorate for Fire Safety and Population Protection (RD PBZN) in Targovishte, Commissioner Stefan Stefanov.
According to an order of the regional governor of Targovishte, Yoan Peev, the period from April 1 to October 30 of this year has been designated as a fire-dangerous season. A report by the RDPBZN – Targovishte shows that since its beginning, a total of 267 different types of accidents have occurred on the territory of the district. The teams of the directorate have participated in extinguishing 51 fires with direct material losses and 136 without direct damage. Twice they have provided assistance to an injured person, and 43 times – technical assistance.
Regarding the fires in the region, Commissioner Stefanov pointed out that the main cause of their occurrence is human negligence, especially when handling open fire, as in 101 of the cases. Most often, such incidents occur in residential areas, he added.
Among the most significant incidents during this year’s fire season so far is an incident that occurred in a wheat field in July in the Targovishte village of Vardun . At that time, five fire trucks from the services in Targovishte and Omurtag, as well as two teams from the State Forestry in Targovishte, were involved in extinguishing the fire. The fire was localized and extinguished before it affected residential buildings in the village, recalled commissar Stefanov. According to him, the suspected cause of the fire was a glass object, which, through the magnifying glass effect and due to high temperatures, ignited the wheat plants around.
The head of the RDPBZN – Targovishte Stefan Stefanov pointed out that the interaction between the fire brigade teams and the forestry structures is key, especially in forest and field fires, where the risk to nature, people and infrastructure is high. It is regulated in the Disaster Protection Act, the Forest Act and disaster protection plans at the regional and municipal levels. “This interaction allows us to respond faster, better cover hard-to-reach areas, use resources effectively, reduce damage to forests and nearby settlements,” he explained.
Commissioner Stefanov pointed out that during the year, forest officials responded to two fires – one that affected six acres of coniferous forest near the Omurtag village of Golyamo Tsarkvishte, and a second one, in which the affected area was about one acre of deciduous forest in the Gorna Hubavka region, also in the Omurtag municipality. Forestry teams in the region have also assisted many times in extinguishing fires in dry grasses, where there is a risk of the fire entering the forest fund, he added.
The available human resources of the Regional Directorate “Fire Safety and Population Protection” are maintained in a 24-hour readiness to respond to an incident, the head of the institution emphasized. According to him, within 60-90 seconds of receiving the signal, the teams are in the fire trucks and heading to the scene of the accident. Every day they carry out inspections of the vehicles and equipment, train and educate themselves, maintaining their physical fitness and psychological readiness for a quick and adequate response. All employees also participate in training on new technologies and practices.
In case of larger and more difficult fires, additional teams are involved. If necessary, employees of the RDPBZN – Targovishte provide assistance in controlling the elements in other regions. For example, in July, six employees were included in a module for extinguishing forest fires in Greece, others provided assistance to colleagues in the Blagoevgrad and Varna regions.
Additional support, if necessary, is provided by the volunteer formations in the region. There are also such formations in the five municipalities of the Targovishte district. Each of them has up to ten members, who have mandatory undergone initial and specialized training, as well as training to improve their qualifications with refresher courses and joint exercises with the fire services.
According to data from the RDPBZN – Targovishte, from the beginning of 2025 to the present, a voluntary formation has cooperated with the fire department once – in January, when members of the Antonovo – 2017 Fire Department participated in the search for the owner of a burned-down house in the village of Razdeltsi.
Commissioner Stefan Stefanov stated that all necessary preventive actions have been taken in the region to reduce the impact of fires. However, he appealed for vigilance on the part of citizens, especially when they have to light a fire outdoors. In that case, they must be prepared with fire extinguishing equipment at hand, such as containers of water, sand, fire extinguishers or batons.
