Fires in North Macedonia: 25 Blazes in a Single Day
The State Crisis Management Center in Skopje said firefighters responded to 25 open-air fires in 24 hours, with a landfill on the outskirts of Kriva Palanka proving the hardest to put out.
Firefighting crews in North Macedonia responded on Sunday, August 9, to 25 open-air fires, the state Crisis Management Center in Skopje announced, and the list of municipalities that called for help included Struga, Gostivar and Veles, towns that in August see part of Serbian holiday traffic passing through on the way to Lake Ohrid and the Greek border.
Of that number, 22 fires were fully extinguished by the end of the day. One was brought under control, and two were still active when the tally was compiled.
The first of the two active fires burned in Gorni Lisici, in Skopje’s Aerodrom municipality, where flames spread through brush, trees and a cornfield, a field close to residential areas. The second broke out on the outskirts of Kriva Palanka, in the northeast of the country, where a landfill was on fire. A fire above the village of Zelenikovo, which had earlier spread through forest and low vegetation, was brought under control.
From Karpos to Delcevo, a Map of One Day
The Crisis Management Center’s tally shows that firefighters’ work that day was not limited to two points on the map. In Skopje itself, crews responded in several city municipalities:
- Gazi Baba
- Djorce Petrov
- Sopiste
- Aracinovo
- Studenicani
- Karpos
Outside the capital, fires were put out in Novaci, Dolneni, Prilep, Caska, Veles, Rosoman, Struga, Lipkovo, Vrapciste, Zelino, Gostivar and Delcevo. In most cases it was low vegetation that burned, and at some locations trees, waste and landfills as well.
The pattern speaks for itself: the fires hit the south around Prilep and Novaci, the Vardar valley around Veles and Rosoman, the west around Gostivar and Struga, and the far east around Delcevo. This was not one large fire front but dozens of small fires breaking out on the same day on dry ground.
Has the Fire Been Put Out?
Not right away. The landfill near Kriva Palanka was still resisting the next day. In the new daily tally, covering the 24 hours to the morning of August 10, the Crisis Management Center reported 26 fires recorded in the open, none of them active, 25 extinguished and only one still under control: the one on the outskirts of Kriva Palanka, at the landfill.
The two consecutive tallies show the same thing from two angles. Low vegetation burns out within hours, but a landfill does not, because the fire works its way into the layer of waste and smolders beneath the surface.
Why This Matters on This Side of the Border Too
Kriva Palanka sits on the road to the Deve Bair border crossing into Bulgaria, while Veles and Gradsko lie on the corridor that carries most road traffic from Serbia toward Thessaloniki. When 25 fires break out in a single day, spread from Karpos to Delcevo, that is not local news but a picture of conditions on the route travelers use.
For Serbia there is a second, more practical layer. Neighboring emergency services work on the same daily tally system, so comparisons are possible day to day, without guesswork or after the fact interpretation. When the number of interventions rises in one country, it is usually seen among neighbors within the same week, because the terrain and the drought are the same.
The Crisis Management Center publishes its tally every morning, so the outcome of the Kriva Palanka fire will show up in the next report.
