A serious fire is reported near Berovo, between the villages of Budinarci, Macevo and Vladimirovo. Fire spread quickly through the region, which is one of the most forested in Macedonia, in summer drought conditions and local firefighting commander Zoran Ajtovski called on locals to help in the fight.

Our teams are on the ground, with vehicles and all our resources. We have called for help from neighboring towns and we expect that the citizens will help out, Ajtovski said.

The fire comes weeks after the forest around lake Mladost near Veles was completely burnt in a big forest fire. Smaller fires break out daily across Macedonia.