In a social media post, the Agency announced that over 300 firefighters, emergency crews, military personnel and two Canadair planes from Italy, part of the European Civil Protection Mechanism, were “engaged in a true and steady battle against one of the toughest natural phenomena, namely the wildfire that swept the forests and pastures on the hills around the town of Shengjin, Lezhe municipality.”

Italian aircraft provided crucial aerial support, while ground teams, bolstered by hundreds of personnel, battled the blaze constantly.

The National Civil Protection Agency praised the dedication of all involved in the operation, including firefighting personnel, and volunteers, whose commitment has been pivotal in saving people’s lives, he residential areas and local economy.

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The Town Hall emphasized that, “The coordination chain set up to deal with the fire situation in the territory of the municipality of Pukë is working fantastically so far, which has also been reflected in the situation on the ground, which has so far been dealt with without consequences”.

“Fast information brought the intervention of the Fire Service in record time”, the Town Hall emphasized in a post on social networks.

“Today, two fires were extinguished without any consequences. The fire in the forest area of ​​the Gjegjan administrative unit, which started at around 08:00, was brought under control quickly, while it was fully extinguished at around 12:30. As a result, an area of ​​1 hectare of oak forest and bushes was engulfed by the flames, but without burning the vegetation. To put out this fire, there were engaged 1 fire engine with 3 officers, 3 specialists of the Forestry Service and 10 employees of public services in the Gjegjan administrative unit”, said Town Hall of Puka.

The Town Hall added that, “The next fire appeared near the mobile phone transmitters above the Kukaj neighbourhood at around 12:00, while it was difficult to fully extinguish it only an hour later. To extinguish this fire, there were engaged 2 fire engines, 8 officers, 4 forest service specialists and 12 residents of the area. The covered area was 0.5 hectares of pine forest. Fortunately, the forest trees were not damaged.”

“Until now, 26 fires have started in the territory of the municipality of Puka, which fortunately have been extinguished without causing any consequences”, informed the Town Hall of Puka./p.s./

“Through a concentrated action of the operational forces on the ground and with the intervention of the Air Force helicopter ‘Cougar’, it has become possible to put out two problematic fires, in the village of Ndrshen in Orosh of Mirdita and in the village of Shetaj in Durrës”, said the Ministry of Interior through a post on social networks where it also shared images from the operation.

The Ministry of Defense informed that the operation is continuing with intervention from the air in the village of Zgërdhesh in Krujë.

Earlier today, Deputy Minister of Defense Dallandyshe Bici stated that according to data from the National Operational Center for Civil Emergencies, there were reported 29 fires in the last 24 hours.

Bici said that 315 firefighters, Armed Forces, municipal forces, police forces, employees of the Administration of Protected Areas, forest service, volunteer forces, 36 fire engines and a helicopter were engaged in actions to extinguish the flames during 24 hours./r.e/p.s./

Minister of Defense Niko Peleshi stated that, “At last, after 2 weeks of efforts and sacrifices, there are no more fires in Karaburun. Hundreds of hours of battles, hundreds of troops of the Armed Forces and fire brigade, specialists in protected areas and civil emergencies have worked tirelessly to save the Llogara National Park.”

“This hot season is not over yet, but today, in this moment of breath, I want to thank all those who worked hard in these difficult days”, Peleshi emphasized.

Even the MP of the ruling Socialist Party Damian Gjiknuri said that, “I followed and got constantly informed about the efforts and measures taken by the relevant structures at central and local level”.

“This was another case that clearly confirms that politicians should support emergency headquarters and let them do their job without interfering either for political purposes or to use them for personal publicity in the media. We politicians, according to the role and task we have, must do our best to support professional structures with what they need and when they need it. Law enforcement agencies must do everything possible to find and punish the arsonists who caused this colossal damage to nature. Such events should make us reflect better on the relationship that humanity has built with nature and on the fury of the latter when these relations get unbalanced”, declared the SP MP./p.s./

Prime Minister Edi Rama and Minister of Defense Niko Peleshi posted today photos showing the efforts made to extinguish the fires.

The minister informed that, “For the time being, the Armed Forces and other structures of Civil Protection, under the coordination of the National Agency of Civil Protection, are working from the ground and air to isolate and neutralize the flames in some active fire spots.”

“We are working to extinguish the fire in Karaburun, Rips (Vlora), Gadurove-Selitë (Mallakastër), Thirë (Lezhë), Margegaj, Theth (Tropojë), Vermosh (Malësi e Madhe)”, said Peleshi. /m.m/r.e/p.s./