After fires at Llogora Pass public urged to prevent forest fires

The National Agency of Civil Protection has called on the public to be vigilant in protecting natural areas from fires and reiterated the warning that destroying public property by fire is punishable by up to 5 years in prison. The call came after it succeeded in extinguishing fires in the Llogora Pas, one of Albania’s most beautiful natural gems that unfortunately, like many other areas of the country, has not been spared from forest fires.

Context

Albania has suffered increasing damage from wildfires in recent years. This phenomenon has had a negative impact on Albania’s rich biodiversity and extensive forests. The increasing frequency and severity of wildfires has led the Government to invest more in equipment and manpower to counter the phenomenon, but also to adopt harsher penalties for those who cause wildfires.

In its statement to the public following the extinguishing of fires in Llogora Pass, the Agency underscored the seriousness and difficulty of the effort to save Llogora’s forests and called on the public to be vigilant.

“The high temperatures, no matter how extreme, cannot naturally cause fires,” the AKMC said in its statement. “On behalf of every firefighter and worker battling flames, we urge all residents in rural areas to be vigilant. A single spark is enough to set an entire mountain ablaze in this hot season.”The Agency also warned the public that sentences for those who cause fires can be very severe and that it is closely collaborating with police and other institutions to report and assist in arresting anyone who attempts to set fire to forests or grasslands, whether to clear land for grazing or for development. “There will be no tolerance in this regard,” AKMC emphasized.