Southern Albania has been in the grip of violent forest fires for several days. The country requested help from the European Union last week.
A red and dark sky, an almost daily scene in recent days in this small town in southern Albania, located not far from the border with Greece.
For several weeks, the region has been facing violent forest fires against which firefighters seem powerless.
Faced with these fires which are difficult to control, the Albanian authorities requested help from the European Union a few days ago.
“To support our forces, two firefighting aircraft have been provided by the EU. They allow us to continue the fight from the air”explains Taulant Balla, Minister of Internal Affairs.
The cause of these fires is a heatwave that has lasted for several days, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees in the south of the country.
These fires are also caused by arsonists. Last week, Albanian police announced that they had charged 17 people with arson in the space of a month.
Added to this is the equipment that is old or poorly maintained, according to a report by the Albanian Court of Auditors.
“At the moment, we do not have drones for putting out fires. However, the police have Bayraktar drones, which we use to spot and assess fires from the sky. This has really helped us develop effective plans to control the fires.”explains Arben Cara, Director General of the Fire Department.
Every year, Albania loses an average of 10,000 hectares of land to fires. Very high temperatures and wind make fighting the flames particularly difficult this year.