Hundreds of fires have flared up all around Bulgaria over the past week as the country experiences unusually warm and dry weather for this time of the year, rescue services said Thursday.
Thirty new fires erupted on Wednesday alone in different regions, after firefighters had already managed to extinguish 305 fires earlier this week.
Some 1,000 firefighters on Thursday were still battling a blaze raging over 300 hectares of forest-land in a mountainous region with difficult access near the village of Cherni Vit in central Bulgaria.
Most of the fires were started by villagers who have the habit of burning dead leaves and grass to clear their fields and gardens, rescue officials said.
They were then spread by violent winds blowing at speeds of over 120 kilometres per hour (74.5 miles per hour) in some northern mountainous regions.
Summer-like temperatures have engulfed Bulgaria over the past week, with the mercury shooting up to 28 degrees Celsius (82.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in the central city of Plovdiv on Wednesday.
Temperatures in Bulgaria in November usually range around zero degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit).
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