Bulgaria is the first country to send a team of firefighters to the devastated region around Haifa in Israel. Following yesterday's talk between Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, a government aircraft brought a group of 92 firefighters to Haifa, accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitar Tzanchev. The firefighters are divided into two groups and are working to contain the inferno which surrounds two settlements near Haifa.

The Bulgarian team led by Gen. Nikolai NIkolov consists of experienced firefighters, some of whom have participated in the extinguishing of the Moscow fires last summer. In response to the Israeli government's call for assistance other countries have dispatched material aid, special aircrafts and water tanks.

Yesterday the inferno near Haifa took the lives of more than 40 people.