Heat and drought spark fires in Romania forests

High temperatures and prolonged drought have sparked a series of forest fires in the Romanian mountains for the past several days.

A fire has engulfed some 12 hectares of mountain meadow in the area of Silo, Harghita county in central Romania, while another was announced last weekend in the vicinity of the Domogled national park and the area between the counties of Hunedoara and Alba in southern Transylvania.

Local authorities in Harghita are facing the fifth forest fire in eight days. The total affected area stands at about 50 hectares.

Firefighters have been dealing with the fire in Domogled in SW Romania for two days as flames have engulfed about 45 hectares of forest. Interventions in the area are difficult due to rough terrain.

HotNews.ro, Jul 30, 2007