TIRANA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- During the past 24 hours, eleven fires broke out in different districts in Albania, the country's interior ministry informed in a statement Friday.
The situation was most serious in the districts of Fier, Berat and Diber, where the fires swallowed 15.5 hectares of bushes and 500 olive trees, the ministry said.
Due to the difficult terrain, firefighters were unable to intervene in Dibra, northern Albania. Volunteers kept working to ease the situation, but strong winds made it harder, local authorities told media.
Since the weather will be extremely hot this period, authorities have called on communities to be very careful, while District Prefects have established emergency headquarters to handle the situations.
Meantime, Albania's capital has declared situation of emergency due to the draught and heat wave.
"We are in contact with the central government, trying to analyze the situation in the entire district in order to decide whether it is necessary to declare a state of emergency for the whole region," Tirana mayor Erion Veliaj said on Friday. Enditem
