Wildfires burning in the region of Delcevo and Pehcevo, eastern Macedonia, still pose a serious threat where firefighters and soldiers have been deployed as well as helicopters of Macedonia’s Army and from Serbia.

The director of the Crisis Management Center, Stojance Angelov, informed on Facebook on Friday that the situation in the village of Macevo is escalating, and that the fire threatens several houses.

He noted that three helicopters have been sent to the region.

Three helicopters (one of ours and two Serbian) are headed to the Berovo village of Macevo where the situation is escalating and several houses are at risk. Helicopters will continue to operate in this area (Pehcevo / Delcevo / Berovo) as long as there is enough daylight, Angelov wrote.

In addition to the local population, firefighters from the local self-government and 45 Austrian firefighters are also engaged in the firefighting efforts.

The mayor of Berovo, Zvonko Pekevski, said on Friday that a large number of people were involved in rescuing the village of Macevo, including firefighting services from Slovenia, Austria and Bulgaria.

He added that the flames in Macevo were transferred from the village of Robovo, which was among the most critical points affected by the fires in Malesevo region.

President and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, Stevo Pendarovski on Friday evening visited soldiers at the operations center of the First Infantry Brigade located in a village in Delcevo region, one of the most fire-affected areas in the country.

Pendarovski said in the past 4-5 days most of the fires broke out in this regio  and that is why most of the army units are concentrated there.

Romania will send a firefighting plane with large capacity following a written request for urgent assistance to firefighting efforts sent by Defence Minister Radmila Sekerinska to her Romanian counterpart Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă, said the Defence Ministry on Friday.