TIRANA, Jul 24, 2007 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- The massive wild forest fire that claimed one life near a southern Macedonian city was put under control on Tuesday, but the situation on the ground is still critical, news reaching here from Skopje reported.
The fire, starting on Monday in a pine forest near Macedonia's second largest city Bitola, killed one 51-year-old man and injured another dozen. The inhabitants of several suburbs have been evacuated from their endangered houses.
"The major hazard has been thwarted. Nonetheless, the firefighters, the soldiers and all those engaged in the operation will remain alert and be ready for preventive actions," Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski said after touring the hardest-hit areas.
There is no immediate assessment on the damage caused by the fire, nor have the authorities established the cause of the blaze, Makfax, Macedonia's independent news agency, reported.
Macedonia has declared a state of emergency and reduced working time from 8 hours to six in an effort to combating the heat wave that has pushed temperatures well into 40 degrees Celsius across the Balkans.
More than 20 wild fires are still now raging across Macedonia, and a Croatian firefighting plane is on its way to Macedonia to help with the country's firefighting efforts, it was reported.