Firemen battle forest fire in Bulgaria as heatwave intensifies

A wildfire was devouring swaths of pine forest Wednesday in Bulgaria, as authorities formally declared an “intense weather” warning because of a heatwave. The forest fire on the mountain Rila, 60 kilometres south of Sofia, has been burning for three days. Firefighters dispatched helicopters to contain the blaze in the area on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the authorities declared a code orange weather alert in several regions, warning that the present temperature of nearly 40 degrees was set to continue growing until Sunday. The country has been plagued by hundreds of forest fires this season.