Southern Albania on fire

The prefecture of Gjirokaster has established a special team for reassessing the fire damages which are expected to be very high.

Local police announced the arrest of two other persons for last night’s fires in Peshkopi e Poshtme and Peshkopi e Siperme, bringing the numbers to 8 arrested, 16 under investigation while police is looking for several others.

The only villages in Gjirokaster district who escaped fires are Dropull and Pogoni, while fires in the town of Tepelene made a dangerous approach to the electrical substation. The flames burned the Zervati Church, while in Libohova fire passed through the yards of 11 houses.

Permet is the less affected area of Southern Albania, with only 9 fires. The most serious case was recorded yesterday in Peshkopi e Siperme, where fires surrounded the village risking the houses and their residents. This entire situation in this area has been handled by only three fire engines and 20 firefighters, who had also been lacking of fuel and were unable to intervene from the air.

The army has also offered 20 people, while police was able to save dozens of houses in the entire district, offering 200 agents and 25 vehicles, who made most of the rescues with circumstantial objects.

Local authorities say that this summer had the most serious fires ever recorded in the post-communism history. In Saranda there have also been 60 fires during July and August, which have destroyed thousands of hectares of forests, pastures and properties.

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