At least 4 counties across Albania continue to be struck by active wildfires. Authorities have been trying for days, to put them out, but the flames have now encompassed the protected site of Koritnik, in Kukes.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed this Saturday that the fire that broke out in Koritnik is located at the ‘Korab-Koritnik’ Natural Park, an area also known as ‘Stanet’ at the Morin village.
“The fire is under control and we are keeping it under constant monitoring,”- said an expert from the ministry.
In addition, the situation has become concerning in the village Armiraj in Puke, where the fire that has broken out in the village Srriqe is moving closer to homes.
“A Dutch helicopter is operating from the air, whereas our soldiers and fire-fighting teams are on the ground together with employees of the forest services,”- notified the minister.
Fires that have been put out:
- Mamel, Gracen, Qafë-Krrabë, Elbasan
Fires that are being monitored:
- Flet, Guri i Zi, Shkoder
- Selishte, Qafe-Murre, Diber
Fires that are under control:
- Thirre, Fan, Mirdite, Lezhe
- Munelle, Fan, Mirditë, Lezhe
- Domgjon, Fan, Mirditë, Lezhe
- Katund i Ri, Rubik, Lezhe
- Qershize, Fushe-Kumlli, Puke, Shkoder
- Koritnik, Morin, Kukes
Active fires:
- Srriqe, Qafe-Mali, Fushe-Arrez, Shkoder
- Maja e Runës, Malzi, Kukes
- Përroi i Vishnjës, Himarë, Vlore
Well over 400 fires have been registered in our country during the course of the summer, according to Global Forest Watch (GFW), that is monitoring the situation of wildfires in the forestlands spread across the entire world, through satellite imagery.
The majority were seen in the past month.
The fires have taken the lives of 2 victims in Gjirokaster. The police is also working to clear up suspicions that some of these fires might have been human-made, and there are currently 33 suspects being investigated, some of whom have been arrested.
According to GFW, in the past 20 years in Albania, over 40 000 hectares of forests have been lost, or round 6.2% of the total. The most prominent causes were the large number of trees been cut down followed by uncontrolled wildfires.
