Wildfires Rage Across North Macedonia • Channels Television

More than 20 wildfires raged across North Macedonia on Wednesday with some moving close to populated areas and authorities saying some were arson cases.

The national crisis management centre said 21 wildfires were active and being fanned by strong winds late Wednesday.

The government declared a “state of crisis” on Tuesday and more fires broke out Wednesday around the capital Skopje, engulfing the city in thick smoke.

One blaze at an illegal landfill site two kilometres (1.2 miles) from central Skopje left at least one person injured. Authorities warned people to stay at home with windows closed.

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Police also found a body near a wildfire in a village close to the eastern town of Kriva Palanka, the interior ministry said. The cause of death was not immediately announced.

The mayor of the southern town of Dojran, Ango Angov, demanded air support to extinguish a fire that was getting close to the village of Nikolic and a steel factory. The mayor of the eastern town of Kriva Palanka also appealed for volunteers to help.

Greece sent two firefighting planes and two fire trucks to help extinguish the blaze in Dojran, the state-run MIA news agency reported.

President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova signed an authorisation for the military to be used in battling the fires and 150 soldiers were immediately engaged.

Interior Minister Pance Toskovski said there was a “reasonable suspicion” that arsonists caused some of the fires, even though the hot weather and strong winds were the main causes. The cases were being investigated, he told reporters.

AFP