A major effort was made by Czech firefighters to put out fires in hard-to-reach mountainous areas of Bulgaria.
03.08.2025 / 11:45 | Aktualizováno: 04.08.2025 / 11:55
The Czech Republic dispatched a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter and a seven-person crew to assist Bulgaria, which is suffering from forest fires. The deployment was carried out through the rescEU framework of the European Civil Protection Mechanism, to which air contingents were also contributed by France, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Sweden. The Czech firefighters were deployed to a difficult-to-reach area of the Pirin Mountains in the Strumyani district. There, the pilots had to cope with strong winds and dense smoke.
During the official thank you ceremony at the air base in Plovdiv, attended by the Minister of the Interior Daniel Mitov, the Bulgarian firefighters' commander Alexandar Dzhartov appreciated the professionalism and high work deployment of the helicopter crews. Dzhartov said these crews were deployed to the most problematic areas in Strumyani, Yambol, and Sliven. Over 700 tons of water were dropped on these fires by planes and helicopters over several days, which was crucial in extinguishing them."
On the morning of July 27, 2025, the helicopter carrying the Czech firefighters took off from its home base in Přerov. However, bad weather over the Carpathian Mountains caused the crew to spend an unplanned night in Szeged, Hungary. They did not reach their destination until the following afternoon. The Czech UH-60 Black Hawk's operational base was the Plovdiv airport, from which it flew several-hour missions to Strumyani, approximately 200 kilometers away. On the second day of deployment, the Czech crew set a record by performing 44 water drops and spending nearly eight hours in the air. The Czech firefighters' mission in Bulgaria officially ended on August 1, 2025, and the helicopter and its crew returned safely to Přerov the next day.
Unfortunately, summer wildfires are becoming increasingly common in Bulgaria. According to fire chief Dzhartov, around 3,500 fires were reported in June 2025, which is an increase of about 500 cases compared to last year. For the record, Czech firefighters were also involved in the fight against fires in Bulgaria last year. A 17-strong unit supported by two helicopters operated there from 18 to 23 July 2024.