After more than 48 hours of trying to put out the numerous fires here in Shengjin, the operational forces, supported by air and helicopters, have managed to normalize the situation today, avoiding the danger to the residents, businesses and vacationers of the beach of Shengjin.
Throughout the night, numerous firefighting forces from at least 6 municipalities of Albania, together with the forces of the army and local residents, worked to extinguish the fires, bringing them under control in the morning hours.
The two specialized helicopters, which came from Italy, resumed work during the morning hours to extinguish the remaining fires, with the risk of being reactivated due to the strong winds that continue on the coast of Shengjin.
Extinguishing the fires has highlighted the damage that was caused to the crown of the pines of Shengjin, in the tourist area of Rana i Hedhun, but also in the surroundings of the municipality of Shengjin. The authorities claim that there is minor damage to some homes and businesses and that the biggest damage is in the green crown of Shengjin.
During the morning, the local authorities called for the return of vacationers and residents, who were evacuated the day before due to the fire that reached the coastline, covering with smoke and burning the tents of some tourist resorts in Shengjin.
The vacationer from Gjilan, Kosovo, Besnik Çiku, says that the situation normalized after the intervention of the police and army forces.
“I think they intervened in time and with the means available to the Albanian state. We have seen that the army was also mobilized with its own possibilities. So they succeeded. People were worried, some more, some less,” he says.
While the resident of Shengjin, Beso Bejtja, says that the situation the day before was very difficult.
“There was a lot of panic from yesterday's fire situation. Army and police forces have arrived and somewhat stabilized the situation. But yesterday the situation was very catastrophic”, he says.
During the day yesterday, due to the aggravated situation, the Albanian government sent a request for help to the European Civil Protection Mechanism, which sent from Italy two helicopters specialized for extinguishing fires, which were joined by a helicopter of the Weapons of the Albanian army.
For more than a month, almost the entire territory of Albania has been engulfed by fires in forest areas, mainly due to high temperatures. Every day, more than 20 fires are registered, for extinguishing which, in addition to the firefighting forces, the forces and equipment of the army are engaged.
Albania has few specialized tools for extinguishing fires in forest areas. The fire service has only 147 firefighting vehicles, most of them outdated, as well as about 1,300 employees, but no firefighting aircraft.
